Crypto-fascism is the secret support for, or admiration of, fascism or trends close to the ideology. The term is used to imply that an individual or group keeps this support or admiration hidden to avoid political persecution or political suicide. A person, organisation or idea possessing this tendency would be described by the adjective "crypto-fascist".
In an ABC television debate during the chaos of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Gore Vidal described William F. Buckley, Jr. as a "sort of pro or crypto-Nazi".[1][2][3] Buckley responded, "Now listen you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the goddamn face".[4] Vidal later clarified in an essay published in Esquire in 1969, "I had not intended to use the phrase 'pro crypto Nazi.' 'Fascist-minded' was more my intended meaning".[5] In later reporting on this event, the term Vidal used to describe Buckley is sometimes misquoted as "crypto-fascist".[6]
The term "crypto-fascist" had first appeared five years earlier in a German-language book by the sociologist Theodor W. Adorno, German: Der getreue Korrepetitor, lit. 'The Faithful Répétiteur'.[7] Adorno used "crypto-fascism" as early as 1937 in a letter written to Walter Benjamin. In this document, the term is not linked to secret support or admiration of fascism but it is used to refer to someone who is insufficiently conscious when displaying such regressive tendencies.[8]: 212
The term was used by German Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll in a 1972 essay (titled Will Ulrike Gnade oder freies Geleit? [de])[9] that was sharply critical of the tabloid newspaper Bild's coverage of the Baader-Meinhof Gang left-wing terrorist organization. In the essay, Böll stated that what Bild does "is no longer crypto-fascist, no longer fascistoid, that is naked fascism. Incitement, lies, filth."[9]
In an other example, in 2011, writing for the Guardian, Roy Moody suggested that "mainstream Hollywood cinema" and specifically comic book artist and film director Frank Miller are "crypto-fascist" because they promote the view that "war against a ruthless enemy is good, and military service is good, that killing makes you a man, that capitalism must prevail."[10]
On a night of riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago, Buckley and Vidal had their own climactic on-air clash. Vidal called Buckley a "crypto-Nazi," prompting a reaction that still stuns. "Now listen, you queer," Buckley replied, "stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in the goddamn face and you'll stay plastered."
Namely, that the anti-historical, and indeed crypto-fascistic, faith in nature which is hostile to all social analysis, which eventually leads him towards a kind of 'national community' [Volksgemeinschaft] based on biology and imagination.
Das ist nicht mehr kryptofaschistisch. nicht mehr faschistoid, das ist nackter Faschismus. Verhetzung, Lüge, Dreck.[That is no longer crypto-fascist. no longer fascistoid, that is naked fascism. Incitement, lies, filth.]
