I don’t think he’s trying to “cuddle up with fascists”. The fascists don’t represent the entire party just as progressives don’t represent the entire democrat party. He’s trying to get the uneducated “always vote for the guy with the R next to his name” type dudes. They exist, plenty of ignorant people out there.
The left wing is gonna vote for him anyway, if they vote at all. Half of the leftists I talk to don’t even vote because they say democracy is a failure and nothing matters. To a liberal, a leftist is an extremist.
I’m a progressive. Why would I do that? Most progressives live in states where voting for President has no effect anyway. The blue wall, + New York, + Illinois…