WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris was asked this week when she thought Donald Trump was a fascist and she replied, “Yes, I do.” She later called him the same thing herself, saying voters didn't want a “President of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.”

But what exactly is a fascist? And does the meaning of the word shift when viewed from a historical or political perspective—particularly so close to the end of a tense presidential campaign?

Here's a closer look:

What is Fascism?

An authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement. Often associated with the far right, it is characterized by a dictatorial leader who uses military forces to suppress political and civilian opposition.

The two most famous fascists in history were Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Germany and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Il Duce or “the Duke,” Mussolini headed the National Fascist Party, symbolized by an eagle clutching a fasces — a bundle of rods with an ax between them.

In October 1922, at Mussolini's urging, thousands of “Blackshirts” or “Squadristi” formed an armed fascist militia that marched on Rome and promised to seize power. Hitler's Nazis also relied on a militia, the so-called “Brown Shirts”. Both men eventually implemented one-party rule and encouraged violence in the streets. They deployed soldiers, but also fomented civil unrest that pitted loyalists against political opponents and larger segments of everyday society.

Hitler and Mussolini censored the press and spread sophisticated propaganda. They stoked racist fears and manipulated not only their active supporters, but also ordinary citizens.

Today, the term fascism has taken on a looser political definition and is often used as a blanket term for efforts to spread oppression and racism, as well as to denigrate dictators or leaders who pursue totalitarian tactics.

It's not just the left that has used the term and denounced a shift to the right in the United States and many parts of the world. Some conservatives rejected lockdowns imposed during the Coronavirus pandemic as “fascist”.

What are other historical examples of fascism?

Hitler and Mussolini are the two biggest names, but things get even darker from there.

Is military dictator Augusto Pinochet's 17-year iron-fist rule in Chile justified? What about Indonesian strongman Suharto or Spaniard Francisco Franco? Were the regimes of Ferenc Szálasi in Hungary and Plínio Salgado in Brazil fascist? Where does American neo-Nazi leader David Duke fit in?

In fact, critics sometimes describe modern extremist groups in the United States – including such movements cheered Trumpas the Proud boys – as fascists or neo-fascists. These labels may be more strongly influenced by political ideology than clear historical parallels.

Why does Harris call Trump a fascist?

The vice president has long criticized Trump as mentally unstable and not a true supporter or defender of the nation's core democratic principles.

She notes that Trump suggested this deploy the military to target political opponents, including people he has described as “the enemy from within.” The former president has long spoken of attacking his enemies and explained to his followers that he would be their “retribution.”

“He’s talking about the American people. He’s talking about journalists, judges and nonpartisan election officials,” Harris said in a CNN town hall Wednesday night.

Trump has threatened to take action against television networks and news organizations for reporting he considers unfavorable. And when current President Joe Biden asked him to denounce the Proud Boys, Trump, during a debate in 2020 replied: “Proud boys, stand back and stand by.”

A mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, aiming to overturn Trump's loss to Biden after Trump gave a speech in which he spread falsehoods about the election and admonishes the crowd “fight like hell”. Among those arrested in connection with January 6th was the Leader of the Proud Boyswho is accused of orchestrating a failed conspiracy to keep Trump in power.

Harris worked towards the characterization. While an interview with her in Detroit On October 15, radio host Charlamagne Tha God said Trump was increasingly advocating fascism and asked, “Why can't we just say it?” “Yes, we can say that,” Harris replied.

Then Trump's most senior former chief of staff, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, said warned that the former president meets the definition of a fascist. He said Trump suggested during his time in office that Hitler “did some good things” and that Trump placed personal loyalty over the Constitution.

Trump's campaign has accused Kelly of lying and brushed aside Harris' criticism. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt responded: “Kamala will say anything to distract from her invasion of the open border and record high inflation.” Trump has called January 6 a “day of love.”

How do fascism experts view Trump?

They are divided. Some believe that Trump does not fit the classic historical definition of a fascist, but is increasingly turning to policies that exhibit fascist tendencies.

David Kertzer, a Brown University professor and Italian historian, said he was “a little horrified” to hear Harris call Trump a fascist, given the term's “historical resonance.” He said there were some similarities, including “mass movement, a strongman cult.” He noted that Trump sometimes sticks out his chin, although he is not prone to ripping off his shirt and baring his chest like Mussolini did.

Kertzer said that fascism involved “a one-party state, the banning of all opposition newspapers and the imprisonment of people who disagreed” and that while Trump had spoken about the imprisonment of opponents, he had not moved to address other key aspects of the to accept movement.

“There are some echoes, but in terms of turning the Republican Party into a one-party state, that seems pretty far-fetched right now,” said Kertzer, author of “The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise.” of fascism in Europe.”

David Clay Large, a senior fellow at the University of California's Berkeley Institute of European Studies, said: “The alarm bells that are now ringing may be a bit exaggerated.”

“Our democratic institutions, however frayed, remain much stronger than those of the European nations that went fascist in the '20s and '30s,” Large said. Still, he added, there would be “a real danger to these institutions” if Trump were to have a second term as president.

The rise of far-right parties across Europe and Trump's control of the Republican Party, Large said, are creating “an entirely new situation: the center can no longer remain the same as it once was.”

Added to this is social media, which in the digital age reflects the use of propaganda and heightens emotions and division, he said.

“Where everyone is an expert, we have lost respect for factuality, objectivity and actual expert opinion,” Large said.

—- Kellman reported from London.