249 - Chris Hedges: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Rise of American Fascism

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning author and journalist who was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times. He has covered numerous wars across the decades, written many books—including America: The Farewell Tour and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America—and has been involved in work for prisoner advocacy. In this episode, Robinson and Chris discuss Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the rise of American fascism. More particularly, they address comparisons between Trump and Hitler, DOGE, the new crisis for the Democratic Party, Israel and Palestine, the Christian far right, Marxism, and more. Chris’s latest book is A Genocide Foretold (Penguin Random House, 2025).  Chris’s YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@chrishedgeschannel?si=XIMAFyQFmWGoYyuO The Chris Hedges Report Substack: https://chrishedges.substack.com A Genocide Foretold: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/786808/a-genocide-foretold-by-chris-hedges/ OUTLINE 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:59 PTSD and Weightlifting 00:06:49 The Decline of the American Empire 00:11:10 The Strongest Dimension of Trump’s Presidency 00:17:20 Was Hitler a Better Speaker than Trump? 00:19:54 How the Democratic Party Sold Out the Working Class 00:22:21 Elon Musk and the Oligarchic Takeover of America 00:28:26 Is Elon Musk Wrong About the Efficiency of Government? 00:31:02 What Is the Deep State? 00:42:46 Is Donald Trump at War with the Deep State? 00:49:23 Infiltrating the Far Right Christian Community 00:54:04 Becoming a Minister 00:57:27 The Christian Right and the Fascist State 01:06:26 The Problem of Evil 01:10:31 On Sadism and the Decline of Empires 01:17:35 Why the Christian Right Supports Israel 01:20:20 How Does Trump Think of Israel? 01:27:38 On How the CIA Attempted to Recruit Him 01:31:06 Is Israel Still Committing Genocide in Gaza? 01:40:25 Chris’s New Book 01:46:24 On His Time with Hamas 01:55:01 Journalism vs Academia 01:58:28 Is Zionism Anti-Semitism? 02:04:52 How to Read the Bible 02:12:01 Where Does Integrity Come From? 02:22:26 Dehumanization in Palestine 02:26:15 On Marxism and Elon Musk 02:31:16 The Farewell Tour 02:35:34 On Trump’s Love of TV 02:37:50 On Reporting the Middle East 02:39:56 Russia and Ukraine 02:42:59 Growing Wealth Disparities in the United States 02:46:56 Fascist Attacks on Education 02:51:39 The Dark Future of the Press 02:57:30 Could the American Empire Be Revived? Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.