The Jock-Creep Alliance

John Ganz applies his theory that fascism has two ideal types (the Italian Jock/Douche model and the Nazi Creep/Loser model) to the contemporary US, noting that within the Republican Party the types are essentially a complementary alliance:

The relevance of this theory today is obvious when one looks at the contemporary American right, with its paradoxical and strange unity of jock-bullies like Trump and the online incel-tariat. In addition, good deal of the intellectual or Professional-Managerial cadre of the right celebrates the sheer idiocy and barbarousness of Trump’s rhetoric as a totem of virility and potency. Fantasies of ultimate power swirl around Trump. Look for instance at the “Trump as God-Emperor” meme that emerged on 4chan, the original reference of which was the tabletop strategy game Warhammer 40,000. One could also say there is a more-or-less conscious desire for fascism in the pseudo-intellectual nerd demimonde, expressed in their grandiose theorizations and fantasies, while there is an unconscious identification with the Jock-Douche dimension of fascism present in the population at large. I believe in America the pure manifestation of Creep-Loser fascism is unlikely to succeed politically. We saw this in the defeat of Blake Masters and we see this in Trump’s popularity above the Yale educated lawyer DeSantis is already manifest, even though the latter is now the choice of many of the wonkier and nerdier figures on the far right. (Of course, Trump is of German origin and DeSantis is of Italian background, which should put to rest any fears that mine is a theory of ethnic essentialism.) Creep-Loser fascism, the fascism of the Michael Antons and Curtis Yarvins of the world, must still lurk and plot in the background—it is too unattractive to come to light.

In conclusion, we should take pains to point again that on a higher level these affective dimensions of the fascist self are identical. After all, they are both representations of the wish for dominance and superiority, one being directly acted upon, and the other developed and cultivated inwardly in the world of the imagination. They complement and attract each other: the dull seek to give their actions the appearance of historical grandeur, while the dowdy look for a figure who embodies the strength they lack. They also both reflect fascism as it really is: as simultaneously both silly and sinister.

Trump and DeSantis are indeed excellent embodiments of the ideal types, and I agree that the smart money remains on the former beating the latter. But both are critical to the Republican coalition, and even if the Creep/Loser faction loses the nomination they’ll fall into line.