The debate over how far Trumpism has consolidated power turns in part on what followed Jan. 6, with writer John Ganz saying paramilitary violence never became a regular feature of the movement.
In a Nov. 3 essay published by Unpopular Front, Ganz reconsidered 12 predictions he made in 2024. He treated fascism as a comparison for assessing political developments rather than a settled classification. “Fascism is just one analogy, one paradigm of political judgment,” he wrote.
The House Select Committee’s report offers a record of the Capitol attack. It estimated that 200 to 300 Proud Boys, along with associates, marched toward the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and said Proud Boys members helped lead attacks during breaches of the Capitol grounds and building.
President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, proclamation commuted the sentences of 14 named people to time served, pardoned other people convicted of offenses related to Jan. 6 and directed the attorney general to pursue dismissal of pending indictments tied to the events. Reuters reported the next day that extremism researchers warned the clemency could encourage far-right groups. That warning was a prediction about its possible effect.
On Sept. 25, 2025, the White House issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7). It directed the National Joint Terrorism Task Force and its local offices to coordinate and supervise a comprehensive national strategy, including investigations, prosecutions and disruption efforts targeting political violence and intimidation that could obstruct lawful political activity or the rule of law. The memorandum sets out the administration’s policy; it does not establish how fully agencies carried it out.
Writer Paul Campos disputed Ganz’s assessment in a Nov. 3 response published by Lawyers, Guns & Money. Campos placed the United States in stage three of an ongoing struggle for power, rather than a later phase of consolidated rule. The official records document the attack and federal actions, but do not settle whether the fascism analogy fits.
