The Republican Party has not merely flirted with racism and fascism—it has deliberately embraced them as political weapons. What began as coded appeals in the Southern Strategy has metastasized into open authoritarianism under Donald Trump and the “Make America Great Again” movement.

For decades, Republicans have relied on racial resentment as a cornerstone of their electoral strategy. Political scientists like Ian Haney López have traced how GOP operatives deployed dog-whistle rhetoric—“welfare queens,” “law and order,” “illegal immigrants”—to stoke white fears and secure white votes. This wasn’t accidental; it was a deliberate choice to make race the dividing line of American politics.

The results are visible everywhere. Republican legislatures across the country have weaponized voter ID laws and gerrymandering to suppress the voices of Black, Latino, and Indigenous voters. The Brennan Center for Justice found these measures do virtually nothing to stop fraud, but they dramatically reduce turnout among communities of color. Add to this their defense of Confederate monuments, support for brutal family separations at the border, and denial of systemic racism in policing, and the message is unmistakable: preserving white dominance takes precedence over equality.

Alongside racism, the party has cultivated unmistakable fascist traits. Fascism thrives on authoritarianism, nationalism, the suppression of dissent, and the worship of a leader. Under Trump, Republicans attacked the press, normalized political violence, and tried to overturn a free and fair election. The January 6th insurrection was not an aberration but the logical outcome of years of escalating rhetoric and disdain for democracy. The GOP’s current obsession with banning books, whitewashing history, and scapegoating LGBTQ+ Americans is ripped straight from the authoritarian playbook of past fascist regimes.

This moral and political regression is reinforced by figures like Charlie Kirk, who explicitly preach against empathy. By framing compassion and understanding as weaknesses, such messaging encourages a society that values power over principle and cruelty over cooperation. This is not merely a political stance—it represents a retreat from the moral progress humanity has achieved over centuries, pushing society toward more primitive, hierarchical, and survival-driven behaviors. When empathy is treated as a liability, social bonds fray, and the moral foundation of democracy itself is undermined.

The trajectory is undeniable: the modern Republican Party has made racism, authoritarianism, and the rejection of empathy central to its identity. Not every Republican voter consciously subscribes to these ideologies, but every Republican leader who pushes these policies or excuses this behavior is complicit. These are not fringe elements; they are the party’s strategy for holding power.

The stakes could not be higher. To defend democracy, equality, and the moral progress of humanity itself, we must name this reality for what it is: a party that has abandoned pluralism and compassion in favor of white supremacy, authoritarianism, and cruelty. Anything less is denial.

By Jonathan Marquez