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: youtube.com/@chrishedgeschannel?si=XIMAFyQFmWG…

The Chris Hedges Report Substack: chrishedges.substack.com

A Genocide Foretold: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/786808/a-genocide…

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: robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.