Donald Trump declared that he was “not a Nazi” while at a rally in Georgia on Monday

Trump was responding to a comment made by Kamala Harris last week where she agreed with assessments that Trump was a fascist.

“The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn’t voting for her is a Nazi,” Trump said. Trump then told an anecdote about how his father told him to avoid saying Hitler or Nazi, in what he said was a contrast to the Kamala campaign who “use both words freely.”

Name-calling, especially in the final act of a presidential race, is common. But many experts who say the fascist label is apt argue that it’s more than just political polemics. They say the term is useful — serving as a distress signal for the threat to democracy. Other experts say it’s an imprecise critique that obscures other, very real threats of Trumpism.