There’s a game the American right has perfected. It goes like this: they say or do something horrifying—racist, misogynist, homophobic, authoritarian—then when people point it out, they act wounded, offended, persecuted. How dare you call us fascist? they cry, clutching their pearls with one hand while sharpening voter suppression laws with the other.
It’s a little like a man screaming at you while holding a knife: “Stop calling me violent!” Sir, you are actively holding the knife.
So let’s be clear. If Republicans don’t want to be labeled fascist-leaning, racist, misogynist, homophobic, hateful, maybe they should stop behaving like fascists, racists, misogynists, homophobes, and hatemongers. Radical idea, I know. But words mean things, and the right keeps writing its own dictionary of cruelty.
Let’s flip through the entries.
Entry 1: Fascism Isn’t Just a Slur—It’s a Playbook
When we call the right “fascist-leaning,” it isn’t because we got bored and threw a dart at the insult board. It’s because they keep doing fascist things.
Mussolini and Hitler weren’t just about parades and bad mustaches—they were about crushing dissent, scapegoating minorities, using “law and order” as a cudgel, militarizing civic life, and wrapping it all in the flag. Sound familiar?
January 6th wasn’t a spontaneous field trip; it was a fascist cosplay that turned into a real attempt at overturning democracy. Trump’s fans marched on the Capitol, waved Confederate flags in its halls, assaulted police officers, and built gallows for Mike Pence. That’s not “patriotism.” That’s textbook fascism, right down to the chants.
And yet the GOP calls it “legitimate protest.” If you’re still defending the violent attempt to overthrow an election, maybe the label “fascist” isn’t unfair. Maybe it’s descriptive.
Entry 2: Racism With a Megaphone
Republicans insist they don’t deserve the label “racist.” Then they pass laws that suppress Black votes, attack DEI programs, and teach children that slavery was a career-development workshop.
George Floyd was murdered on camera, the world watched, and conservatives responded not with horror but mockery. Candace Owens called him a “horrible human being.” Republican lawmakers fixated on his criminal record instead of his death. Right-wing pundits turned Floyd’s name into a punchline.
This isn’t an aberration. It’s a pattern. When immigrants drown in the Rio Grande, they smirk. When brown-skinned migrants are called “invaders,” they cheer. When white nationalists chant “Jews will not replace us,” they call them “very fine people.”
So yes, when you consistently dehumanize Black people, Latinos, Muslims, and Jews, you earn the label “racist.” You tattoo it on your own forehead.
Entry 3: Misogyny Is Policy, Not Accident
The GOP wants us to stop calling them misogynists. Fine—then stop legislating like women are broodmares.
The party of “family values” has built its platform on stripping reproductive rights from half the population. Forced birth, criminalized doctors, women jailed for miscarriages. This isn’t pro-life. It’s state control over women’s bodies.
And the rhetoric matches the policy. Republican men openly mock women who speak out about assault, laugh about “locker room talk,” and treat #MeToo like a comedy routine. When Christine Blasey Ford testified about Brett Kavanaugh, they sneered. When women demand equal pay, they shrug. When women run for office, they call them shrill, nasty, and unlikable.
Misogyny isn’t a side effect—it’s a governing philosophy. And if you don’t want the label, maybe stop treating women like second-class citizens.
Entry 4: Homophobia as Identity Politics
Let’s talk about LGBTQ+ rights. Republicans insist they’re not homophobic while writing laws banning trans kids from sports, drag queens from libraries, and queer history from textbooks.
They spread lies about “groomers” and “pedophiles,” painting gay teachers as predators. They use queer people as punching bags at rallies, cheering as if hatred were a national anthem. They block protections against workplace discrimination and then claim they “love everyone.”
The cruelty is deliberate. It’s policy dressed up as moral panic. It’s “Don’t Say Gay,” “bathroom bills,” and book bans. It’s kids taking their own lives while lawmakers smirk about “wokeness.”
So yes, when you legislate hate, when you dehumanize entire communities, when you mock their pain—you’re homophobic. No matter how many times you say “we just want fairness,” your actions scream louder.
Entry 5: Mocking the Dead
If there’s one thing the right has mastered, it’s the art of laughing at tragedy.
Sandy Hook. Twenty children slaughtered, teachers murdered—and Alex Jones, a darling of the far right, called it a hoax. He made millions defaming grieving parents. Conservatives defended him as a “truth-teller.”
Parkland. Uvalde. Dozens of kids gunned down, and the GOP response is “thoughts and prayers” and jokes about liberals crying. They mock survivors on social media, calling teenagers “actors.”
Paul Pelosi. Attacked with a hammer in his own home, skull fractured. Republicans laughed. Donald Trump Jr. posted memes. Conservative radio called it “gay lover’s quarrel.”
It’s grotesque. And it proves that cruelty isn’t a bug—it’s the feature. If you mock dead children, battered spouses, grieving families, and murdered Black men, you don’t just flirt with fascism. You’ve moved in, unpacked, and redecorated the place.
Entry 6: Authoritarian Dinner Theater
Deploying the National Guard to American cities isn’t about safety. It’s about optics. Trump has already sent them to D.C., Los Angeles, and now Memphis—despite falling crime rates. He wanted Chicago, but Illinois leaders told him no, so Memphis was the understudy.
This is authoritarian cosplay. Militarizing majority-Black cities so white suburbs can sleep soundly isn’t “law and order.” It’s state-sanctioned intimidation. It’s what fascists do.
When dissent is met with troops, when protests are treated like war, when civil liberties are optional, you’re not governing—you’re rehearsing dictatorship.
Entry 7: January 6th, Forever Etched
Nothing defines the right’s fascist leanings like January 6, 2021. Armed mobs stormed the Capitol, built gallows, chanted for the death of elected leaders. Police officers were beaten, windows smashed, democracy held hostage.
And Republicans? They call it “tourism.” They downplay the violence. They visit the jailed insurrectionists and call them “political prisoners.”
You don’t get to rehabilitate fascism by rebranding it as a field trip. January 6th was an attempted coup. If you still defend it, if you still excuse it, if you still fundraise off it—you are fascist. No amount of flag-waving changes that.
Entry 8: Hate as Entertainment
Conservatives love to complain about being labeled hateful. Meanwhile, they’ve turned hate into entertainment.
Fox News runs nightly monologues portraying immigrants as criminals, Muslims as terrorists, trans people as predators. Right-wing podcasts thrive on mocking anyone who isn’t white, straight, Christian, and obedient. Hate is their content strategy.
Turning Point USA packed stadiums with young people by teaching them to jeer at liberals, feminists, professors, and scientists. They packaged resentment into rallies and called it “freedom.”
It’s not debate. It’s not dialogue. It’s pure, industrialized contempt. And if you manufacture hate for profit, you earn the label.
Entry 9: The Projection Olympics
Republicans scream about “cancel culture” while banning books. They cry about “government overreach” while controlling women’s bodies. They insist they’re the defenders of democracy while gerrymandering districts into funhouse mirrors.
They accuse the left of intolerance while writing laws that erase queer existence. They call liberals “snowflakes” while melting down over Starbucks cups. They project so loudly it drowns out reality.
It’s not clever, it’s not subtle, and it’s not fooling anyone. Projection doesn’t absolve. It confirms.
So, Why the Labels?
Because they fit. Because when you act like fascists, racists, misogynists, and homophobes, people will call you that. You don’t get to demand a different label when your behavior is consistent.
It’s not slander. It’s not unfair. It’s description. If the shoe fits, and it usually has jackboots, wear it.
The Bitter Irony
The bitter irony is that Republicans want the left to stop using these words, but they won’t stop doing the things that make them true. They want respect without being respectable. They want civility without practicing it. They want absolution without confession.
That’s not how language works. That’s not how morality works. That’s not how democracy works.
A Thought Experiment
What if, tomorrow, Republicans stopped mocking murdered children? What if they stopped stripping women’s rights? What if they stopped calling immigrants “invaders”? What if they stopped criminalizing queer existence? What if they stopped sending troops into cities for optics?
What if they stopped defending January 6th and started defending democracy?
The labels would fade. The accusations would stop. People wouldn’t need to call them fascists, racists, misogynists, or homophobes, because they wouldn’t be acting like them.
But until then, the words stay. Because they’re accurate. Because they’re earned.
Summary of Fascism by Choice
The right hates being called fascist, racist, misogynist, homophobic, hateful. But labels follow behavior, and their behavior is unmistakable: mocking Sandy Hook children, ridiculing George Floyd, dehumanizing immigrants, deploying the National Guard to intimidate citizens, defending January 6th, stripping women’s rights, criminalizing queer people, laughing at tragedy, and treating hate as entertainment. If Republicans don’t want to be called these things, the solution isn’t silencing critics. It’s changing their behavior. Until then, the shoe fits—and it jackboots.