Mehdi Hasan on America's 'Neo-Fascism'

The News Agents

Friday, 9 January 2026 - 43 minutes

We are barely a week into 2026, and already Donald Trump has toppled the president of Venezuela, threatened a NATO ally, labelled a protestor killed by ICE as a "professional agitator", and insisted his own morality is the only check on his otherwise total power.

It appears that America's president is entering the second year of his term more aggressively, more defiantly, and more viciously. What does that mean for the US, and the wider world? And when Trump dismisses legal constraints, threatens to tear up the constitution, and brands entire ethnic groups as suspicious and "garbage", at what point does his administration become fascistic?

That question has been on the mind of Mehdi Hasan longer than most. The British former MSNBC host has launched his own media company, Zeteo, and from Washington has become a leading voice on the Left of American politics.

He speaks to Lewis about why he started using the F word last year, about the dark path down which America is heading, and what happens after Trump.

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