Stuff Fascists Like

Sunday, March 22, 2026

Fascist Move of the Day

"Good, I'm glad he's dead." Trump publicly celebrates the death of Robert Mueller — the decorated Vietnam veteran and special counsel who investigated him. The message isn't grief. It's warning.

Source: The Guardian, March 21 2026

Historical Parallel

On June 10, 1924, Giacomo Matteotti — a socialist deputy in the Italian parliament — was kidnapped in broad daylight by Fascist squadristi. He had delivered a speech eleven days earlier documenting electoral fraud and violence committed by Mussolini's party during the April elections. His body was found two months later in a shallow grave outside Rome. Mussolini initially denied involvement, then pivoted: in a speech to parliament on January 3, 1925, he accepted "moral responsibility" for the political violence of the Fascist movement and dared anyone to prosecute him. The Matteotti crisis became the moment Italian fascism stopped pretending to operate within democratic norms. The message was not subtle: challenge the leader, and the leader will celebrate your destruction.

The public celebration of an adversary's death — not merely tolerating it, but reveling in it from the highest office in the country — serves a specific political function in authoritarian systems. It is not grief, and it is not cruelty for its own sake. It is a signal, broadcast to every person who might consider investigating, prosecuting, or publicly challenging the leader: this is what happens. And I will be glad when it does. The target audience is not the dead. It is everyone still alive who might follow their example.

Sources: Wikipedia: The Matteotti Crisis (1924) · Wikipedia: Robert Mueller

The Full Dispatch

Robert Mueller served in Vietnam as a Marine infantry officer, was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and two Navy Commendation Medals. He led the FBI for twelve years under two presidents of both parties. He was a registered Republican. In 2017, he was appointed special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. His investigation resulted in 34 indictments, seven guilty pleas, and five prison sentences. He died on Friday at 81. Within hours, the president of the United States posted: "Good, I'm glad he's dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!"

The Matteotti crisis of 1924 is the historical precedent most precisely aligned with what happened on Friday — not because Mueller was murdered (he died of natural causes), but because of what the public celebration reveals about the regime's relationship to accountability. Matteotti was killed because he documented Fascist electoral fraud on the floor of parliament. Mussolini's response evolved from denial to defiance to open pride. The January 1925 speech in which he accepted "moral responsibility" was not a confession — it was a declaration: I did this, and I dare you to stop me. That speech is widely considered the moment Italian democracy ended, not because of the crime, but because of the public celebration of it.

The double standard is documented and deliberate. When conservative activist Charlie Kirk died last year, at least 30 people lost their jobs for being perceived as celebrating his death on social media. Trump's supporters organized targeted campaigns to identify, expose, and fire anyone who posted critically. Now the president himself — from the official account of the most powerful office on earth — has posted "I'm glad he's dead" about a decorated war veteran and public servant, and the enforcement mechanism runs in one direction only. This asymmetry is not hypocrisy. It is policy. The rule is not "don't celebrate death." The rule is: the leader's celebrations are permitted; yours are punished. That is the definition of a loyalty system, not a moral one.

Alex Vindman — the military veteran who testified during Trump's first impeachment — wrote: "Draft-dodger saying this about a Vietnam combat vet and career public servant. Despicable and disqualifying in any other decade." David Axelrod called it "thoroughly despicable, totally predictable, and utterly authentic." Michael Steele, the former Republican National Committee chairman, called Trump "a vile disgusting man." Jon Favreau, the former Obama speechwriter, offered the clearest prediction: "One day, Donald Trump will die, and his supporters will try to punish the people who say things like this." That prediction is the tell. The system being built is one where the leader can celebrate death, and anyone who does the same in return will be destroyed. Mueller can't be hurt anymore. The message isn't for him. It's for everyone who might investigate the next crime.