There is a problem with Donald Trump re-elected: Now we, the nearly 73 million Americans who voted for the Republican presidential candidate, we must prepare for four years of fear-mongering, insults and threats.

For years, I’ve been told that if Trump wins, he will destroy democracy and send journalists and political dissidents to the gulag. Celebrities and other wealthy people have even threatened (promised?) to move to other countries.

If that’s true, America is a horrible place to live and the independent journalism that pays my bills could disappear at any moment. Please clutch your pearls as you read this. I would appreciate it.

Will Trump throw journalists into the gulag?

Some of these concerns are based on the president-elect’s inflammatory rhetoric. Trump said the news media is “the enemy of the people” and that NBC News “should be investigated” for treason. His main legal defender, Mike Davis, said that he would put journalists in the gulagsthen he said he was just trolling.

These were certainly stupid statements from Trump and his team. But we should know by now that he often doesn’t mean what he says. He is often full of nonsense.

Although Trump’s rhetoric is inflammatory, he rarely follows through on his threats. But he was elected to fix the problems he promised to solve, and it won’t be long before Americans wonder if he was just being hot air when he said he would extend his tax cuts. and would secure the border.

I must point out, though: Why, when Trump campaigned on lower taxes, a secure border, orderly immigration, a peaceful geopolitical climate, and a stronger economy, did most of the mainstream news media and the Democrats- they mocked?

So when Trump makes an admittedly stupid remark about media bias or vindictiveness against his political opponents, are his words taken as literal promises?

Notice: Voters strongly rebuke Democrats by electing Trump. But will progressives listen?

News organizations picked up on Trump’s rhetoric and ran stories of their own. A Political title We can read on Wednesday: “Trump promised revenge. Here are his targets.” A The title of the Freedom of the Press Foundation says“Limit Trump’s power to destroy the press – before it’s too late.”

For journalists and others to perpetuate the idea that Trump will send his critics to a gulag is stupid. The checks and balances that exist in the courts, in law enforcement, and in other imperfect but functional institutions would prevent him from violating the Constitution — and most Americans, including those who voted for Trump this week , understand it.

Is Trump a fascist?

There is another extreme claim that Democrats have made about Trump. Wednesday, The New Republic published this title“Americans just elected a fascist to the White House.”

Mother Jones framed Trump’s presidency as frightening as it is now to say “America is coming to its day of reckoning.” The caption read: “Trump’s victory signals a national embrace of the politics of hate and a possible fascist future.” »

On MSNBC, host Joy Reid said on election night that Florida was a “far-right fascist type government”. This must be surprising news for all the people who settle there.

The mainstream news media collapsed after Trump’s victory. There is no other word for it.

It seems that many people in the news business don’t know the definition of fascism. If Trump really was a fascist, why didn’t he do this when he was previously Commander in Chief? Trump often behaved in a way that was unbecoming of a world leader – which is why I I hesitated to vote for him − but he was not a fascist.

Notice: I don’t like Trump, but I’m voting for him. Here’s why many Americans will too.

If Trump were truly a fascist, much of what we saw this week would not have happened: 68 million people exercised their freedom to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. And much of the mainstream media and countless celebrities have openly expressed their support for Harris without serious fear of retaliation.

The riot at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 was a horrific incident, and as I already wroteTrump was terribly wrong in encouraging violence. But he left office two weeks later, and I’m sure he will leave office again at the end of his second term.

If Trump were a fascist, he would have interrupted the presidential elections the first time he was in the White House. That’s kind of how this whole “fascism” thing works. But he didn’t do it then, and he won’t do it now.

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Fascism is an extreme form of government responsible for the murder of millions of innocent people. Trump is no Benito Mussoliniand the United States is not the Italy of the 1930s. This is a gross insult both to the victims of fascism and to the 73 million Americans who exercised their right to elect Trump this week by launching so carelessly such language.

Claiming on social media that Trump is Hitler while sipping a latte at Starbucks sounds a lot like virtue signaling, not a true belief.

Does Trump’s victory portend the apocalypse?

It is important to understand the real reason Democrats are trying to turn the outcome of a free and fair election into a sign of the apocalypse. They hate the idea of ​​Trump implementing conservative policies, even if those initiatives help the working class. White voters without college degrees voted for Trump by 34 percentage points.

In some cases, the people who are falling apart don’t respect anyone who voted for Trump. Like President Joe Biden, they consider their fellow citizens to be “garbage“Like 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, they view Americans who vote Republican as.”deplorable“.

Calling Trump, and by default Trump voters, a fascist not only seems ignorant, it also shows the seething contempt of progressives masked under a layer of fear and wrapped in a web of anger.

No, Trump’s victory does not portend the rise of fascism, the opening of gulags or the coming of the apocalypse. If anything, it marks the end of thinking that far-left ideas are a reasonable solution to America’s problems.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four children. Sign up for his newsletter, The Right Trackand receive it in your inbox.

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This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Opinion: Is Trump a fascist? Come on, liberals. Take control