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In the latest turn in the circle of symbiosis, Amanpour & Co., which airs on PBS, invited PBS’s Washington Week host and Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss his anonymously sourced hit piece, which dropped two weeks before the presidential election, alleging Donald Trump envied Adolf Hitler’s generals.

Goldberg added a soupcon of condescension toward his fellow Americans, who apparently don’t know that the word “fascism” means “Trump, not “Harris.” It’s so easy for the Left to take nationalism and protectionism and “xenophobia” and find Hitler and/or Mussolini. 

Guest host Bianna Golodryga, who was supportive of Goldberg’s efforts, cited the “Who’s More of a Fascist?” poll findings with an air of disbelief.

BIANNA GOLODGRYGA: I’m just relaying to you what I’m sure you’ve heard as well, a lot of pushback to this piece from those who are supporting Trump, and saying, listen–

JEFFREY GOLDBERG: It’s not on the level, though — 

GOLODGRYGA: Right. 

GOLDBERG: It’s not on the level. 

GOLODRYGA: –It’s saying, on the one hand, they respect John Kelly. He’s never lied to them. They can’t imagine him lying. But then say the man was burned by the president, so thus, he has an axe to grind. I guess that’s the only argument that they can make at this point.

But let me pick up on this issue of fascism, because the ABC News came out with a new poll today asking registered voters who they didn’t — I never thought I’d ask this question in the United States in 2024, but here we are — who they think is more of a fascist. Donald Trump, 44 percent, nearly half the country — or half of those polled, and Kamala Harris at 18 percent.

On the one hand, you could view that as reassuring for Democrats who say there you have it, in bright contrast, somebody that the majority of Americans view as a fascist versus someone who less than 20 percent do. On the other hand, this race is neck and neck. So, what does that tell you just about the country right now and some of the more pressing issues that I guess most Americans are worried about, because it doesn’t appear fascism is one of them?

GOLDBERG: Yes, I mean, the 18 percent of people who identified Kamala Harris as a fascist might not understand the –

GOLODRYGA: The meaning.

GOLDBERG: — definition of a fascist. But you could always get people to say yes to outlandish things in polls, right?

[Editor’s note: Such as Democrats pouncing on the emotional cathartic opportunity to call Trump a fascist? Those kind of “outlandish things”?]

GOLDBERG: This isn’t that difficult. And what I’m about to say is not a partisan — I don’t believe it’s partisan in the sense of supporting one party or another, a partisan observation. One of the two candidates, one of the two major party candidates in this race tried to overthrow the government. And the other one didn’t. I mean, it’s not that complicated. Donald Trump, for the first time in the history of the American presidency, did not – not only did not accept the outcome of a legitimate election, but tried to foment his followers to physically prevent and physically attack his own vice president from certifying the election. I mean, this wasn’t that long ago.

So, if I look at this race, I see there’s somebody who fomented an attack on the Capitol and on the Constitution and then there’s someone who’s running who didn’t. So, if you’re asking the question, who’s a fascist or who’s not? You know, like a lot of people, I’m not sure I’m tracking entirely what is motivating, or I’m not tracking what certain voters are ignoring or why they’re ignoring certain facts that are pretty clear.

Given that members of the Democratic Party or their media colleagues have tarred every Republican presidential candidate since Barry Goldwater a “fascist” at some point, isn’t it a bit late for journalists to be finicky about how voters choose to apply the term?

(Amanpour & Co. runs on PBS after airing on CNN International.)