Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Category: Trumpism (Page 1 of 6)

These are posts on Donald Trump and Trumpism from the blog Base and Superstructure. Trump took American politics by surprise. This provides us with a number of topics for further discussion. Some posts discuss whether Trump’s movement is fascist. Others critique the movement. Still others provide us with ways to combat against Trumpism and replace it with a class politics grounded in solidarity and the advancement of material interests. Even after Trump has left office, his movement is likely to continue as a component of American politics for years to come. These issues will be relevant for some time to come.

This is a photo of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan speaking in front of a Trump Vance sign, designed as a representation of the kayfabe presidency.

The Kayfabe Presidency

April 20, 2026 / / 0 Comments

We have no shortage of comparisons and metaphors for the Trump presidency! Let’s see how professional wrestling and kayfabe fit into that picture.

Many of these metaphors stem from the Great Fascism Debate, which I joined for some time before swearing it off. Among other problems, the “Trump as Hitler” and “Trump as Mussolini” move is lazy. Even worse, it commits the sin of lack of imagination.

But I’ve flirted with several comparisons myself. Entering the 2016 race as a media mogul using right-wing populism and a kayfabe personality to climb to the top, Trump looked remarkably similar to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

More interestingly, I compared Trump to trash TV character Al Bundy from Married with Children.

How’d that go? Bundy was a roughly middle class guy in suburban Chicago, so he’s not like Trump in terms of job or income. Rather, Bundy personified the Trump voter. He aired white male grievances at a variety of targets – a feminist neighbor, a woman boss, a Latina TV anchor, and so on.

However, these metaphors have all become tired. With that in mind, let’s return to that earlier word ‘kayfabe.’ Maybe it can offer us new clues.

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A Popular Front cartoon that shows three workers stepping on a large snake with a Nazi swastika on it.

A Popular Front Against Trumpism?

April 13, 2026 / / 0 Comments

In The Great Fascism Debate, we see the emergence of a rough analogue to to the Popular Front of the 1930s. In listening to people tell it, it goes something like this: a grand coalition of leftists, progressives, liberals, moderates, and soft conservatives must come together to fight the great authoritarian right threat of the 2020s.

Readers of my previous work won’t be surprised to find that I greet this claim with skepticism.

It’s not that the authoritarian right doesn’t pose a threat in the 2020s. Rather, it’s that I’m already well on record pointing out that the threat in the 2020s doesn’t look much like the one from the 1920s to the 1960s. However, I also think, for quite different reasons, that a ‘Popular Front’ is the wrong frame. That kind of alliance today holds little potential to help the left achieve its goals.

Let’s focus on that.

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A photo of Donald Trump shaking hands with a line of U.S. military members. A security guard in sunglasses stands in the background.

Trump’s (Lack of) Deportation Strategy

January 12, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Journalist Oliver Eagleton begins a recent article in Jacobin by warning us against “sanewashing” Donald Trump. The idea? We shouldn’t attribute any deeper strategy or long-term plan to Trump, because that’s not how he thinks. Rather, short-term gain and perceived self-interest drive him.

Naturally, Eagleton goes on to disregard this warning. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ll say a brief word here about the web Eagleton thinks the Trumpists are spinning.

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A photo of red banners at Harvard University, intended as a representation of professors in the Trump era.

Professors Won’t Save Us

September 15, 2025 /

In a short Current Affairs article titled “Don’t Expect Art to Save Us,” RS Benedict argues that artistic or cultural expression cannot meaningfully substitute for concrete political action.

It’s not a new claim. Nor, in my view, is it a very controversial claim, though, as with even most accurate claims, it draws its detractors.

However, I think we can learn a few lessons from the very first reason Benedict gives in favor of the claim.

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A photo of a white plate against a yellow background with a single green pea in the middle, intended to represent left minimalism.

Two Cheers for Left Minimalism

September 8, 2025 /

As of late, I’ve been trying to steer clear of the ‘Great Fascism Debate.’ I’m referring, of course, to the question of whether Donald Trump is a fascist and Trumpism a fascist movement. I’ve written about the topics extensively. For a quick review, readers should check out my original 2018 post arguing for a nuanced ‘no’ answer, as well as two additional posts proposing a fuller account of Trumpism.

In short, Trumpism sucks. But it sucks in a non-fascist way.

However, I’m not here to rehash all that.

This time, we’ll take a look at a brief analysis by Matthew Karp over at New Left Review. Karp brings to the table some insights about what people miss about the second round of Trump.

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