Having written two celebrated books on fascism in the 20th century, American scholar Jason Stanley, who is Jewish, draws direct parallels with the second Donald Trump presidency.

"Fascism is what the Trump administration is now doing," he told DW of the president's second term in office.

In late March, Stanley announced his decision to quit Yale University and move to Canada, where he will work at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He follows Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, two Yale history professors who are a married couple, who also left for Toronto after the US presidential election.  

"I'm afraid of being targeted by the federal government," he said in relation to his decision to leave Yale.

Referencing the vulnerability of immigrant academics who could be deported for speaking out under Trump, he added: "I'm leaving because my non-citizen colleagues cannot speak about politics on social media… or else they might have their visas pulled." 

In Stanley's 2018 book "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them," he describes how fascism "dehumanizes segments of the population" to justify "inhumane treatment, from repression of freedom, mass imprisonment [to] expulsion."

He says the Trump administration, which has been accused of deporting immigrants in defiance of court orders and has limited free speech by withholding funding for universities or federal agencies who promote so-called "DEI" (diversity, equality and inclusion) policies, can no longer be called "populist."

The word ends up "whitewashing the threat," he said, reiterating his view that Donald Trump's intolerance is fascist by nature — a point made in his 2024 book, "Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future."

Trump weaponizing antisemitism to attack universities?

The Trump administration is withholding funds from universities that have been sites of anti-war protests during the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying the institutions promote antisemitism.

But Stanley points out that "Jewish students at Yale were one of the biggest identity groups participating in the encampments and the protests."

"This regime is drawing a distinction between good Jews and bad Jews, and we know the history of that," he said.

The distinction between right-wing "pro-Israel Jews" and "Jews like me and many of my students here at Yale who criticize Israel's actions in Gaza" also appeals to "a very dangerous antisemitic stereotype," that falsely claims "that we American Jews control the institutions," Stanley said.

The scholar says that Yale University has not given in to the Trump administration's demands and has "protected its scholars." But he is concerned that the likes of Columbia University are succumbing to pressure — the latter has promised to investigate pro-Palestinian protesters to avert multi-billion dollar funding cuts.

"If you agree to these demands, you're not a university anymore," said the philosophy scholar. "A university is a place of free inquiry and critical inquiry. And in the United States, given our relationship to Israel, it's perfectly legitimate to have a protest movement that demands divestment from military support of Israel."

Why not stay in the US and fight?

Jason Stanley, as well as Snyder and Shore, who have all decamped to the University of Toronto, have often been asked why they chose to abandon the US in a time of need.

"Well, it's kind of easier to defend Canada than it is to defend Yale," Stanley told DW.

"The United States is getting to be a scary place generally," he continued. "[The] University of Toronto can be a haven; we can bring scholars and journalists there to protect them better than we can do in the United States."

Stanley aims to help nurture a more inclusive academic environment from his new position. He says the Munk School plans to "create the world's top center for defending democracy," and will welcome journalists from both democratic and authoritarian countries like Russia and the US.

He also wants to protect his children who are Black and Black Jewish. Stanley says that attacks on DEI and on "Black history" are "an attack on Black people."

 "I want my kids to grow up in conditions of freedom."

Marci Shore and her husband Timothy Snyder have focused on fascist regimes in Eastern European — a lens through which they draw parallels with the Trump administration.

"I could feel the reign of terror spiraling," Shore told the Kyiv Independent newspaper of her decision to leave the US. "My impulse was to take my kids and get out of the situation that seemed very dark and very frightening to me."

Jason Stanley points out that, despite his move, he is not abandoning the struggle at home.

"I'm going to be fighting for American democracy wherever I am," he said.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier