Much of what Donald Trump does is drawn from Mussolini’s playbook, and his call for the fascist Proud Boys movement to “stand back and stand by”, in the first US presidential debate, is no exception. It was no random outburst: it was a clear signal that the Republican right intends to win the election by acting in synergy with white-supremacist thugs.
In the spring of 1921, armed squads of fascists terminated socialism in the Italian countryside. They arrived at night, in trucks, torched the peasant social centres and labour exchanges, and beat left-wing councillors and trade union officials, sometimes to death, as the police stood by.
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