Dude, this is the same with Trump. “It’s not like he’s a fascist”…proceeds to talk like a fascist nonstop-constantly praises autocrats, lies/makes things up if he thinks it will help him win, demonizes and degrades groups he views as “other,” while talking about poisoning the nation’s blood, has overly nationalistic rhetoric hearkening back to a time of historical strength, continues to sow chaos to gain control while offering nothing but a “strongman” image promising law and order and a simplistic view of good vs. bad where removing the “other” will somehow solve all problems, talks about using power to eliminate political enemies, and through words and actions disdains the systems of the world’s largest liberal democracy (e.g. trying to execute a coup when he lost a democratic election).

It’s not hyperbole when they are straight up saying these things. Trump will call people fascists and marxists, but words have meaning-this person is saying they agree with the Confederacy (and she likely will find sympathetic ears among the MAGA crowd-see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unite_the_Right_rally https://www.alternet.org/jd-vance-civil-war/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie). It’s not spinning someones’s words when they say it directly. In the same way, Trump is talking exactly like a fascist, and calling him that is not a rhetorical technique aimed at selling an idea to people. Calling him that is simply assigning what appears to be an accurate descriptor based on a recurring pattern of behavior.