Liberals and Democrats exhibit considerable confusion about fascism. For some reason they conflate conservative (right-wing) Americans with fascism. This despite the fact that the political philosophy of Mussolini, the founder of fascism, has nothing in common with American conservatives. Mussolini was a authoritarian collectivist who thought the state had precedence over the individual, that the state should control all means of production and distribution, and was opposed to free trade. He sounds more like a Democrat than a right-winger, but somehow the Liberals and the Democrats haven't thought that deeply about it. Here is some discussion about fascism.