The infection remains, even if you cut off the arm.
America isn't descending into fascism. We're descending deeper into fascism. Minority populations have suffered under the hand of the American racial caste for the entirety of our nation's history. Free speech got Civil Rights leaders killed by the government. The press is free to report, but we put journalists in Guantanamo in the early 2000's for reporting unfavorably on the War on Terror. The rich control the nation while the poor squabble over who gets to keep the crumbs, and blame each other for the scarcity. Pre-WW2 Germany admired Jim Crow, and as much as many of us like to think that we did away with those abominable laws and policies, we still struggle with systemic racism and power structures, and the oppression they force on Black and brown people.
White Supremacy is a chronic illness. It's a festering infection that has thrived in the country's blood since birth. Trump is puss swelling up in our limbs. He's a physical manifestation of a much deeper problem—he's a symptom. It won't suffice to cut off the puss-filled arm and dispose of it. The whole body needs treatment. The whole system needs an overhaul. We need an antibiotic to kill the hate that has defined our country for so long. I don't know if that antibiotic is community, love, empathy, or education, or a chemical synthesis combining all of those things and more into a powerful dose of equity. Whatever it is, we need to take the whole round. We can't stop when we start to feel better. The Civil Rights movement ended prematurely. Next time, we need to see it to the end. Maybe one day The United States of America will be healed of its hate.