Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Matt Kennard claims in his new book that the bipartisan War on Terror laid the groundwork for the Trump presidency and the rise of fascism. We now face the consequences of empowering extremists to the upper echelons of government power.
Support my independent journalism at Substack: chrishedges.substack.com
Follow The Chris Hedges Report on social media: https://linktr.ee/chrishedges
(0:00) Intro
(3:31) Why right-wing extremists join the military
(9:42) Institutionalized fascism
(12:07) GWOT led to Trump
(16:06) PTSD in the U.S.
(17:58) Why traumatized veterans turn to Trump
(21:18) Race war ideology
(25:54) Is Hegseth part of this movement?
(30:12) A symptom of empire decline
(33:10) Body politic becoming more extreme?
(38:39) How does ICE play in?
(42:57) Rise of fascism
(45:18) Outro
Matt Kennard claims in his new book that the bipartisan War on Terror laid the groundwork for the Trump presidency and the rise of fascism. We now face the consequences of empowering extremists to the upper echelons of government power.
Support my independent journalism at Substack: chrishedges.substack.com
Follow The Chris Hedges Report on social media: https://linktr.ee/chrishedges
(0:00) Intro
(3:31) Why right-wing extremists join the military
(9:42) Institutionalized fascism
(12:07) GWOT led to Trump
(16:06) PTSD in the U.S.
(17:58) Why traumatized veterans turn to Trump
(21:18) Race war ideology
(25:54) Is Hegseth part of this movement?
(30:12) A symptom of empire decline
(33:10) Body politic becoming more extreme?
(38:39) How does ICE play in?
(42:57) Rise of fascism
(45:18) Outro










