Fascism has been popular in the US for many many years. Mussolini was admired by the elite in the 1930s. A lot of this has been white washed out of the history you learn in government schools but it happened. WW2 required the US elites to rebrand but if you look at the actions of FDR and going forward the US has been a fascist ever since. Fascism triggers people so some call what we have corporatism.

That said, there is a big problem with the word Fascism. We can't agree on the definition. The word is pretty much meaningless in popular culture. It is a term you use to disparage people/groups you don' t like. The US is not Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany but it is far closer to these than we'd like to admit and neither major party truly embrace personal and economic freedom. Both parties work hand and glove with the elite business interests.

If you read how Mussolini pitched fascism it was "the third way". Way one being liberal free markets, way two being socialism(another word that confuses people), government control over the means of production. The central focus of fascism and what made it different economically was the public / private partnership. The mixture of strong government control of big business. Heavy regulations and more limited central planning than socialism. Yes, it included nationalism and militarism but economically this is what it means.