You are hearing from the “don’t worry it’s not fascism crowd” that Trump is not attempting a fascist takeover because in Germany and in Italy there were far militia members. This argument is both irrelevant and wildly optimistic.

The argument is irrelevant because Trump may be attempting a fascist take over even if the conditions are not as ripe as they were in Italy and Germany. That there were more militia members in Germany and Italy shows it was easier - not that Trump isn’t attempting the same thing

The argument is wildly optimistic, because it assumes that Trump couldn’t help *generate*, by his rhetoric, more militia members. After all, Kyle Rittenhouse wasn’t a militia member until a few weeks ago.

Trump is using his rhetoric to mobilize paramilitaries. All the arguments that Trump is not a fascist underestimate Trump, and assume Americans don’t have the European vision for a mass movement.