Like many analysts, US President Joe Biden’s “semi-fascism” remark did not go far enough. He should have just dropped the word semi and called them fascists. Taking into account how much the US democracy is in peril, shouldn’t it be time to call out the enemies by their real names?
The MAGA Republicans, who have Perussuomalaiset (PS)* followers like MPs Jussi Halla-aho, Veikko Vallin, Vilhelm Junnilla, and many others in Finland, are made from the same toxic brew.
There is nothing semi about MAGA Republican fascism. It’s the real thing, fair and square.
“MAGA Republicans want to take America backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love,” President Biden said.
In the same light, the PS is threatening and marginalizing minorities and migrants who should have limited civil rights. It’s clear that after the party passes now-unconstitutional laws to ensure that minorities and migrants are second-class members of society, they will go after other minorities like the Roma, Saami, gays, and others.
Contrary to the so-called golden days of the PS, when the Finnish media did not challenge their racism and ultranationalism enough, we see much more teeth and critical journalism.
The great challenge of a far-right party like the PS today is to become “normal” and “mainstream.”
We cannot allow this to happen.
Considering that the PS admires authoritarian leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, it would not be farfetched to call out the party for what it is: fascist and/or far-right.
The sooner we do this, the greater our chances of defending and preserving our precious democracy.
