Making Sense with Sam Harris

#456 — American Fascism

February 4, 2026

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  • Jonathan Rauch reluctantly labeled the current political situation as fascism because the emergence of fascist properties became too obvious to ignore, moving beyond his initial assessment of Trumpism as mere patrimonialism. 
  • Fascist leaders often present as comical or unserious figures, which serves to disarm critics trained in civility and allows them to manipulate public discourse into an arena where liberals cannot compete. 
  • The glorification of state violence is evidenced by the government's reaction to the killing of peaceful protester Ethan Soyland (referred to as Mr. Predty/Preti), where officials spoke as if the Second Amendment does not exist, contradicting the core civic religion of millions of conservative gun owners. 

Segments

Podcast Introduction and Subscription Plug
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(00:00:06)
  • Key Takeaway: The Making Sense Podcast relies entirely on subscriber support as it runs no advertisements.
  • Summary: Listeners hearing the opening segment are informed they are not on the subscriber feed and must subscribe at samharris.org for full episodes. The podcast explicitly states it does not run ads, making subscriber support its sole means of operation. This structure supports the ad-free listening experience.
Justifying the Fascism Label
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(00:00:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Rauch initially resisted the fascism label, preferring ‘patrimonialist,’ but shifted due to the emergence of numerous fascist properties incompatible with liberal pluralism.
  • Summary: Rauch previously categorized Trump’s governance style as patrimonialism, characterized by treating the state as personal property leading to corruption and incompetence, but not ideological aggression. Over time, the accumulation of specific characteristics associated with fascism made withholding the label feel pedantic. Rauch compiled 18 criteria of fascism to justify applying the term to the current political direction.
Patrimonialism vs. Fascism
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(00:02:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Patrimonialism focuses on personal enrichment and weakening bureaucracy through loyalty appointments, whereas fascism involves ideological reorientation and organized aggression.
  • Summary: Patrimonialism involves the leader using the state for personal advantage, exemplified by leveraging tariff policy for family enrichment deals. This style destroys government competence by replacing experts with loyalists but does not inherently reorient the government ideologically or aggressively. Fascism represents the next, more dangerous stage beyond mere patrimonialism.
Fascism Definition and Criteria
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(00:07:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Fascism is defined as an ultra-nationalist project promising national rebirth that rejects pluralism, elevates coercion, and corrodes neutral institutions.
  • Summary: The definition highlights that fascism treats opposition as an enemy and views violence as morally necessary to purge internal traitors and restore greatness. While the final stage of rendering political competition impossible has not been achieved, directional movement across all criteria is evident. The current state is described as a hybrid system: a liberal constitution governed by a fascist leader.
Demolition of Norms and Comical Presentation
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(00:09:29)
  • Key Takeaway: The tactic of constant, extreme norm-breaking insults is a deliberate fascist strategy to dominate dialogue and render liberals unable to compete.
  • Summary: Fascist figures historically present as comical or buffoons, which causes many observers to underestimate the danger by adopting the attitude of ’take him seriously, but not literally.’ This style hijacks public discourse by forcing constant attention and demonstrating control over what can be said, overriding traditional standards of civility. Hitler’s strategy was ensuring people could not stop thinking about them, regardless of ridicule.
Glorification of State Violence
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(00:15:06)
  • Key Takeaway: The shift toward fascism is marked by rhetoric suggesting state violence can be a first resort, exemplified by the federal response to peaceful protesters.
  • Summary: Liberal democracy uses violence reluctantly as a last resort, whereas fascist rhetoric suggests it can be a first resort. The incident where a peaceful protester was swarmed, shot multiple times, and then labeled a terrorist demonstrates this shift. The subsequent official response, which ignored the protester’s lack of firearm use, signaled that possession of a gun near federal law enforcement could result in a death sentence, repudiating Second Amendment rights.