Do you actually know what a fascist is

Yes, fascism is all about sacrificing individual rights for the benefit of the state, using the military to crush opposition and any "undesirables" along the way.

That doesn't describe Trump, yet that's what the left throws around to try to discredit him.

How Democracies Die (2018) looks at actual fascist regimes and compares them to Trump. I agree that there are significant concerns here, but I think there's an alternative explanation: Trump is merely a narcissist and has no agenda. Everything makes sense through that lens:

• rhetoric courting the radical right - they were the most rabid supporters
• Jan 6 - he stood by because they were fighting for him
• nationalism - if America is "great," so is the President
• populism - again, he wants to be in the news

His actual policies have not been consistent with actual fascism though. He didn't attack abortion, gay/trans rights, or racial minorities despite a willing base, the most he did was some rhetoric about states rights and pushing for expansion of the southern wall/fence. He didn't increase aggression militarily toward any of our enemies, his tariffs were pretty mild, etc. He paid lip service to his base, but his main focus was tax cuts and deregulation, which are populist moves that don't benefit the state at all.

So no, I think the term "fascist" is being thrown around to try to discredit him, which failed because it's inaccurate. Trump is certainly dangerous, but not because he's fascist, but because he's narcissistic and his ideas suck.

I trust the former head of the joint chiefs of staff, Trump’s former chief of staff

Sure, but just know that they have an axe to grind as well, so they have a strong incentive to exaggerate. Again, what they say is troubling, but fits with Trump being a narcissist more than a fascist. He

Harris has never advocated for the communal ownership of the means of production.

Exactly, yet that's the term the right throws around to try to discredit her.

You’re saying it’s insulting and wrong to call a far right populist leader who attempted a coup to stay in power, who has threatened to use the military to bring places that disagree with him into line, who calls his political opponents “the enemy from within” and who calls them evil and their criticism of him illegal a fascist.

I'm not saying it's merely insulting, I'm saying it's inaccurate. If you step away from social media for a second and actually talk to some Trump supporters (not the crazies that paint their trucks or don Q anon nonsense) and read some quality journalism that's not just spinning the news against Trump, you might get a different perspective. I live in a very red state that's generally opposed to Trump (dead last in the 2016 primaries, MAGA candidates largely lost), and when I ask people, they say he's distasteful, but they want him to reduce illegal immigration, reduce drug trafficking (esp. Fentanyl), cut spending and taxes, and hurt China. They don't care about "culture war" nonsense, they support Ukraine and want the war to end, and they support Israel but think they've gone too far in Gaza and want the war to end.

attempted a coup

The evidence I've seen is that the Jan 6 rioters arrived at the rally with a plan already, and left the rally early to prepare. I have seen no evidence of direct collusion between Trump and those groups. The clear evidence I've seen is Trump trying to abuse loopholes in the law to overturn what he thought was a stolen election (i.e. narcissism), but not doing anything outright illegal. That's sill not great, but I don't think it's an indicator of fascism.

threatened to use the military to bring places that disagree with him into line

Yeah, that's just saber rattling rhetoric. He has given zero info on what that means, nor has he (AFAIK) mentioned it after winning the election. I think it was just an outlandish statement to rally his base.

calls his political opponents “the enemy from within”

And the same happens in the other direction.

He can say things are illegal, but that doesn't make them illegal. He doesn't create the law, he merely enforces the law. We'll see how far the other branches of government let him take things, but I highly doubt he's actually interested in subverting democracy, he just wants to stay in the news cycle.

I'm not gonna sit here and jerk the guy off

Neither will I. I think he's dangerous and do not support him whatsoever, but I'm also not going to make up lies to smear him. I'll applaud any good moves he makes to hopefully encourage more like it (he's a narcissist after all), and deride any bad moves he makes.