General Discussion

It was again [Former Maryland governor Martin] O’Malley who led with the most forceful attack, calling Trump an “immigrant bashing, carnival barker” and likening him to Joseph McCarthy, a conservative US senator who stoked anti-communist fear in the early cold war years.

“Well Donald Trump, when you start your registry of Americans who oppose your backward ideas,” O’Malley bellowed, punching each word for emphasis, “you can start with me.”

Asked after his speech if he considered Trump a fascist, O’Malley replied: “The appeals that he’s making – the sort of toxic mix of opportunism with public panic –are the same sort of appeals that have preceded fascists and fascism in the past.”