Trump’s political style bears comparison not with Mussolini but George C Wallace, who ran for the presidency in 1968 and 1972 on a conservative populist ticket. Protestors turned up to his rallies, too – and he loved it. Wallace perfected the anti-hippie zinger. When kids shouted “F**k Wallace!” he replied: “Why don’t you try learnin’ some other four letter words – like W.A.S.H. and W.O.R.K.?” The confrontations added to the Alabamian’s appeal, confirming him as “the only guy willing to take on the mob”.

Wallace ran as a Democrat from the Deep South – a reminder that the history of demagoguery and racist innuendo runs at least as deep in the Democrats as it does the Republicans. Indeed, Wallace was routinely condemned by philosophical conservatives because they regarded him as a liberal with racist sensibilities. Exactly the same dynamic exists between Trump and the intellectual high-priests of modern Republicanism. To the scholars and the pundits of American conservatism, Trump is an interloper in the GOP and a threat to the Constitution. The Right is as alarmed by his authoritarian streak as the Left.

I would like to say that they should all have greater faith in their Constitution’s ability to withstand populism. After all, if Trump won the presidency – which is highly unlikely – he would be bound by Congress, a military obliged to ignore illegal orders, the judiciary and the God-given rights enjoyed by every citizen. But the problem with any narrative that sees Trump as a fascist seeking to subvert America from within is that all of these fine institutions have already been subverted. Usually by the White House.