(Nathan Ferraro / Fourth Estate)
How the words of Giacomo Matteotti can speak to current backsliding in the United States
BY JOSEPH TRIOLO, STAFF WRITER
In June 1924, a vocal critic of Duce Benito Mussolini, Giacomo Matteotti, was kidnapped by Mussolini’s secret police on his way to the Chamber of Deputies. His body was not found for another two months.
Six months later, Mussolini stood before the Chamber of Deputies and declared that he “alone” took responsibility for the events occurring in Italy. He continued by saying, “If Fascism has only been castor oil or a club, and not a proud passion of the best Italian youth, the blame is on me!”
Matteotti wrote a book earlier that year, “The Fascisti Exposed.” In it, he described the abuses committed by the Fascist Party and its leader Mussolini. “The Fascist Government justifies its armed conquest of political power, its use of violence and the risk it incurred of igniting civil war, by the plea of the urgent necessity of restoring the authority of law and the State, and of rescuing the country from economic and financial conditions approaching utter ruin,” Matteotti wrote.
Now, 100 years later, the United States is nearing the completion of its first year of fascist domination. Just in time for Italian-American Heritage Month, the Trump administration’s actions are starting to reflect ones of former Italian Fascist leaders.
To end September, the president spoke before top generals and discussed using cities of the United States as “training grounds” for the armed forces, furthered his talks about a war on the “enemy from within” — a common point from his campaign. Additionally, the newly named U.S. Department of War called for policies of “maximum lethality” and suspending “stupid rules of engagement” — basics in implementing treaties such as the Geneva Conventions in conflict zones.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has refused to swear in Adelita Grijalva, a duly elected Democratic member. Multiple Republican states, backed by the president, have set out to redistrict their states to ensure a strong Republican majority, rendering the power of your vote obsolete.
We saw what happened to Jimmy Kimmel, who was successfully silenced by the FCC for a week. Universities, including George Mason, are constantly under attack by the Trump administration’s attempts to further their own agenda.
A two-tiered justice system is forming where loyal party members of the president are pardoned for their crimes — including insurrection and sedition — while those opposed — such as John Bolton, James Comey, and Letitia James — are raided and indicted on charges pushed by the Attorney General’s staff in a rushed process. These are all indicators of authoritarian power being consolidated to strengthen executive authority.
The actions of the president fit the description of Mussolini by Matteotti: “Armed conquest of political power” justified “by the plea of the urgent necessity of restoring the authority of law and the State.” In Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Portland and Chicago, President Trump has used each of these to strengthen his own authority. Even though it runs the risk of inciting unrest, he does it in the name of restoring order, similar to Matteotti’s assessment a hundred years ago.
Speeches and books got Matteotti killed by the leader of Fascism in Italy and we may not be far off from that situation today. Matteotti’s book could be considered as terrorism in the United States under recent executive orders. Speech calling out the president’s tendencies towards fascism and speaking in opposition to fascism can be labeled as “un-American” and runs the risk of being investigated by the Department of Justice.
Day by day we are becoming the thing Matteotti warned Italy about. America has a new Duce, and his name is Donald J. Trump.
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