Half in new survey view Trump as fascist

Nearly half of Americans say they view former President Trump as a fascist, according to a recent survey.

The ABC News/Ipsos poll, released Friday, defined a fascist as "a political extremist who seeks to act as a dictator, disregards individual rights and threatens or uses force against their opponents." When asked who exhibits those behaviors, 49 percent of registered voters identified the former president while 22 percent said the same of Vice President Harris.

The findings are largely tied to political party, as 87 percent of Democrats said Trump was a fascist, compared to 46 percent of independents and 12 percent of Republicans. Similarly, 41 percent of Republicans called the vice president a fascist, whereas only 20 percent of independents and 3 percent of Democrats said the same, according to the poll.

The numbers come after an interview earlier this month when retired Gen. John Kelly — Trump's former chief of staff — accused his ex-boss of being a "fascist" and confirmed reports that the former president praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and his generals for "loyalty." In response, the GOP presidential nominee attacked Kelly, calling him a "lowlife."

Harris also used the term to describe her GOP rival during a CNN town hall earlier this week. Asked by anchor Anderson Cooper if Trump falls under the definition of a fascist, she said "Yes, I do." She also claimed he was becoming "increasingly unhinged," during a press conference.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents in the recent survey also said they believe the former president strays from the truth — including 30 percent of his own supporters. Less than half said the same of the vice president, the survey shows.

Still, Harris receives more criticism than her GOP counterpart for announcing proposals just to get votes. About 57 percent of respondents said the vice president is guilty of this compared to 52 percent who said the same about Trump.

Roughly two-thirds of registered voters who said they didn't support Harris, 64 percent, or Trump, 68 percent, suggested there could be a "crisis" if either candidate won, the polling found.

The latest ABC/Ipsos poll was conducted online from Oct. 18-22 in English and Spanish among 2,808 U.S. adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.