Current Ideologies Thursday October 24 2024 9 13 PM John F Kelly was Donald Trump s White House Chief of Staff and is a retired 4 Star General To help understand ideology please see his recently disclosed audio statements and transcripts regarding the former president s ideological identity John Kelly transcript MSNBC 2024 2 42 3 18 When asked if he thinks Donald Trump is a facist Mr Kelly replied Well looking at the definition of fascism It s a far right authoritarian ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader centralized autocracy militarism forcible suppression of opposition belief in a natural social hierarchy 3 56 4 16 SO Certainly the former president is in the far right area he s certainly an authoritarian admires people who are dictators he has said that So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist MSNBC 2024 John Kelly served as the Homeland Security Secretary under President Trump before joining the White House in July 2017 He worked to implement Trump s agenda for about a year and a half During this time he faced criticism regarding his own performance and became increasingly upset with the president s behavior which he sometimes viewed as inappropriate and lacking understanding of the Constitution Mr Kelly felt compelled to speak out after Trump s recent remarks about using the military against what he termed the enemy within which he viewed as dangerous In interviews with New York Times journalist Michael Schmidt he supported earlier reports claiming that Trump had made positive comments about Hitler showed disdain for disabled veterans and labeled soldiers who lost their lives for the country as losers and suckers According to Mr Kelly Trump never acknowledged that he was not the world s most powerful man believing that power meant doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted Kelly noted that Trump sought personal loyalty above all even more than loyalty to the Constitution Schmidt 2024 You may also want to consider the way ideological labels have been assigned to Vice President Harris by opponents to her candidacy Harris is often seen as one of the most liberal senators and the least bipartisan Democrat during her short time in office She backed a plan to make healthcare in America completely public known as Medicare for All and stated that private insurance should be banned When faced with criticism she softened her position suggesting she might allow private insurance to exist alongside her preferred public healthcare system Her views on the environment are also extreme in 2019 she expressed a desire to ban fracking which plays a crucial role in U S energy production and has helped reduce inflation under the Biden Harris administration This stance could make the U S reliant on oil and gas from Russia Venezuela or the Middle East and would harm the economy The Green New Deal which she co sponsored aims to replace all dependable energy sources with renewable ones and dramatically change society based on a left wing vision On abortion Harris takes a strong stance opposing any rights for unborn children at any stage She co sponsored a bill to allow abortion without limitations and prosecuted a pro life activist who revealed Planned Parenthood s selling of human body parts Her activism has been described as radical including her fundraising for arrested protesters who shared her views During the riots of summer 2020 she supported the unrest despite the violence and property destruction On immigration she claimed that illegal entry should not be a crime and attributed the border crisis to vague root causes ignoring the impact of her administration s ineffective policies Her extensive record of radical positions makes any shift toward the political center hard to believe Washington Examiner 2024 Reference Wolf Z B 2021 November 13 There are 9 political types in the US Which are you CNN https www cnn com 2021 11 13 politics political typology spectrum what matters index html Political analyst Zachary Wolf summarizes nine political types in America using an expansive Pew Research Center survey conducted in July 2021 the Pew Research Center referred to them as political typologies Republicans in this view are a coalition of four subgroups Faith and Flag Conservatives are intensely conservative in all realms they are far more likely than all other typology groups to say government policies should support religious values and that compromise in politics is just selling out on what you believe in support Trump reelection Committed Conservatives a somewhat softer edge particularly on issues of immigration and America s place in the world Populist Right less formal education than most other typology groups and are among the most likely to live in rural areas are highly critical of both immigrants and major U S corporations very negative views of corporations regarding fair profit favor raising taxes on household incomes over 400 000 support Trump reelection Ambivalent Right the youngest and least conservative GOP aligned group hold conservative views about the size of government the economic system and issues of race and gender But they are the only group on the political right in which majorities favor legal abortion and say marijuana should be legal for recreational and medical use favor raising taxes on household incomes over 400 000 less likely to follow politics or vote than other groups Democrats are also a coalition of four subgroups Progressive Left the only majority White non Hispanic group of Democrats have very liberal views on virtually every issue and support far reaching changes to address racial injustice and expand the social safety net more likely to say systemic change is needed to combat racial bias favor greatly expanding government services Establishment Liberals are far less persuaded of the need for sweeping change Democratic Mainstays the largest Democratic oriented group as well as the oldest on average are unshakeable Democratic loyalists and have a moderate tilt on some issues Outsider Left the youngest typology group are very liberal in most of their views but they are deeply frustrated with the political system including the Democratic Party and its leaders more likely to say systemic change is needed to combat racial bias A large portion of the public 15 makes up Pew s ninth group Stressed Sideliners These are people who don t have a clear partisan orientation have a mix of Week 5 Page 1