Yes, one party does have a candidate that has told sarcastic jokes about "being a dictator on day one".
However the other party has actually taken steps to implement the very things that you just typed out: persecution of political opponents via the court system, exaltation of certain races above others race (DEI, affirmative action, racial riots), most executive orders ever given by a president as well as the deliberate neglect of the laws (human trafficking at the border, encouraging of rampant crime without consequences), the crippling of an economy as well as the use of media to manipulate the public to view it more favorably than it is (literally altered the definition of recession on live TV), LITERALLY CREATED THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH FROM 1984 and only disbanded it after public backlash, deliberately targeted certain citizenry if the opposite political party who peacefully voice opinions at school boards via the FBI, funding two foreign wars at the same time, and also using the government to spread sexual perversion to minors via government schools.
Gee that sounds like fascism to me.