If we’re going to call someone a fascist then we should come up with a working definition of fascism, and man alive is that harder than it sounds. I won’t bore you with the academic hand-wringing over defining fascism. Suffice it to say, there are many contradictions and ambiguities built into the term.

For our purposes, I condensed the general traits of fascism down to a consensus list of ten traits. In no particular order:

1. Nationalism, and more broadly, viewing the world as a zero-sum competition between ethnically-defined nations.
2. Idealization of a lost “golden age” of the nation’s past. Teutonic Age for the Nazis; Roman Empire for the Fascists in Italy; the Spanish Empire for Franco.
3. Authoritarian, charismatic leader. And by “authoritarian,” let’s say we mean someone who thinks that the executive function of government should supersede the judicial and legislative functions.
4. Violence as a legitimate means to achieve both domestic and international objectives.
5. Militarism, often a military-style organizational structure that includes current and former military personnel, coupled with a nakedly expansionist foreign policy.
6. State control of the media.
7. Nationalization of industry, but without the class warfare rhetoric of communism, and often with the consent of the business community.
8. Comes to power in the aftermath of a national trauma. Appeal to voters promotes narratives of slights to the dominant ethnicity by internal and external scapegoats.
9. Ambiguous religiosity, but a great deal of overlap with Christianity’s conservative values and willingness to co-opt religion or create state-sanctioned religions if it suits the needs of the regime.
10. Total disdain for human rights, democracy, labor rights, intellectuals, modern art and feminism.

My frame of reference here is Franco’s Spain, Mussolini’s Fascist Italy (capitalized because that was the actual name of the party), and of course Nazi Germany.

It’s worth considering for a moment that most dictatorships have a passing resemblance to fascist regimes. This is because of the simple mechanics of running an authoritarian regime. For example, most dictatorships are at least internally militaristic for the simple reason that they cannot survive without the support – if not the direct control – of the military.

So, how does Donald Trump line up? Let’s walk through these.

1. Nationalism – check

“America First.” It’s worth noting that this phrase was first prominently used by the anti-war coalition in the run up to WWII. This group was sympathetic to Nazi Germany’s policies and was blatantly anti-Semitic. I’m willing to give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t aware of this connection the first time he used it. I’m not feeling so charitable about him using this line in his inaugural address after that connection had been widely reported in the media.

2. Idealization of the Nation’s Past – check

“Make America Great Again.”

3. Charismatic/Authoritarian Leader – check

Donald Trump has shown little understanding of the separation of powers enshrined in the constitution and has attempted to delegitimize (a) every court ruling against his interests, personal, governmental, or otherwise (b) any expression of political will contrary to his interests (c) any effort by Congress to rein him in.

4. Violence – check

Donald Trump largely condoned (or refused to denounce – take your pick) violence towards protesters at his political rallies during the campaign. He often speaks in very violent language. Phrases like “American carnage” give his supporters the impression that the are victims of violence and should respond in kind. This is very similar language to both Mussolini and Hitler. Franco didn’t need to hint at this because he came to power in the midst of a real war.

5. Militarism – meh

I’m going to give Donald Trump a pass on this one. While he has expressed a desire to use military power to take other countries’ natural resources – “we should have taken the oil” – his general tone is more isolationist than expansionist. He does not come from a military background and does not exhibit the obsession with military hierarchy and uniforms that was a hallmark of European fascism, despite his attendance at military school.

6. State Media Control – check

Trump’s constant berating of “the media” covers both scapegoating and a sense that we would all be better off if “the media” would just cover his side of the story. I have no doubt that he would crack down hard on the press if it weren’t for America’s vigorous 1st amendment protections.

7. Nationalization of Industry – meh

While the Nazis shared The Donald’s chummy ties with the country’s banking and industry moguls, I don’t think it’s fair to compare Trump’s laissez faire economic policies with fascists’ aggressive, centrally-controlled economic vision.

8. National Trauma/Scapegoatism – check

“National carnage” – “bad hombres” – “they’re rapists” – “stealing our jobs” – The Donald’s world view is a dystopian hellscape with fifth column liberals traitorously betraying “real” Americans to the hordes at the gates. It is remarkable how slight a trauma tipped us into this kind of language considering the difference in scope between the Financial Crisis and the combined effects of WWI and the Great Depression.

9. Ambiguous Religiosity – check

Trump has no idea what 2 Corinthians is, but thinks Christians should have priority over Muslims in immigration policy. He has also made comments about returning to the days of automatic church attendance. This despite his rather hedonistic past and repeated divorces. He is not a Christian, but he understands and values rote religious practice.

10. Disdain for Human Rights, Intellectuals, estc – check

I’m not going to list all the horrible things he’s said for the sake of making this argument. It’s clear that the only human rights Trump cares about are the rights of white, Republican-voting Americans.

So, Trump’s fascism score is an 8 out of 10.

To be fair, the military organizational structure and nationalized industry are defining features of fascism. By those measures Trump doesn’t line up. If you call Trump a fascist, then Italy’s Berlusconi was a fascist, and that doesn’t quite pass the smell test.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be worried. Defining a movement as fascist is to some extent academic. There are plenty of evils in the world besides fascism. I’m sure the poor souls toiling in the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge took little solace from the fact that they were not living under a fascist regime.

And it’s worth considering that each of the big three European fascist rulers had their own paradoxes and contradictions that make it difficult to fit them neatly into a fascist box. The story gets even more confusing if you include fascist movements from occupied countries like France and eastern European fascist movements like Romania’s Iron Guard.

Each leader subsequent to Mussolini picked the elements that fit his particular political situation, and Mussolini was in turn re-influenced by Nazi Germany. Franco, in particular, probably wasn’t personally a fascist, but he was perfectly willing to use the framework of fascism to kill thousands of people and implement a regime that lasted until his death in the 70’s.

So, perhaps we’re asking the wrong question. Though less catchy, the better question is “what are Trump’s goals and how do those goals differ from American values?” This is really a question we should ask of all our leaders and, to that end, the fascist comparison is a good one, because it forces us to consider the underlying policies and goals of this political creature, Trump, that is so difficult to pin down on anything.

If we think about fascism in the context of its history and as an iterative, malleable ideology, then it matters less that Trump check off every single on the fascist check list. In this view, we land on a terrifying prospect:

Mussolini comes to power in Italy 1922 – Fascism 1.0

Hitler comes to power 1934 – fascism 1.1

Franco takes command of nationalist forces in Spain 1936 – fascism 1.2

Hitler invades Poland 1939 – fascism 2.0

Mussolini declares war on Britain 1940 – Fascism 2.1

Franco adjusts his political stance to shed de jure fascism 1948 – fascism 3.0

Trump comes to power 2016 – fascism 4.0?