Thread by @DrewHolden360

Quick 🧵thread🧵

With the news that Trump freed the hostages and brokered an Israel/Hamas ceasefire, I thought it would be a good time to check in on the folks who compared the president to Hitler over the last few years, for reasons that I hope are obvious to you.

Remember? ⤵️

You may think the “Trump is literally Hitler” phrase is just a silly joke.

But for years, media outlets and left-wing voices on the internet have insisted that, no, really, Trump is just like Hitler.

Few have done so with as much gusto as @CNN.

Back in 2016, @CNN alleged that Trump rallies were just like Hitler rallies because…Trump had attendees raise their right hands.

That’s what inspired this headline.

Someone coming on @CNN to compare Trump to Hitler as the host nods along was a regular feature of 2019. (H/t @RealSaavedra)

Their individual anchors have done so, too.

@zerohedge has a whip around of @jaketapper and a bunch more claiming Trump is Hitler.

I know @amanpour has walked her original Trump-Hitler comparison back, but I think @SteveKrak’s criticism here is still entirely right: a team of @CNN writers and editors decided this comp was worth airing.

I mean, seriously. Do you remember how regular of an occurrence it has been for outlets like @CNN to bring random people onto their shows and podcasts to declare that Trump is Hitler incarnate, as the hosts nod along? (H/t @greg_price11, who surely remembers)

Calling Trump Hitler got @CornelWest on @CNN.

The comment was met with no pushback from @andersoncooper. @AC360 even tweeted the quote out themselves.

There were plenty of other outlets who have done this, too.

I mean, @newrepublic published a cover image of Trump superimposed over a famous picture of Hitler and doubled down on the comparison when they were criticized for doing so.

But plenty of more mainstream outlets have tried to compare Trump to Hitler.

In 2023, @washingtonpost ran a piece titled “How Trump’s rhetoric compares with Hitler’s.”

They had multiple pieces on the same subject.

Remember how Trump’s remarks about illegal immigrants were ripped from the pages of Mein Kampf?

Remember the media hype for late night hosts going after “Trump for stanning Hitler”?

@nytimes, if you won’t stop making late night a news story, please drop the youth buzzwords.

It wasn’t just Hitler, @TheAtlantic and @anneapplebaum assure us.

Trump was sounding like Stalin and Mussolini, too.

Even Trump saying he wasn’t quoting Hitler made @AP mad.

Not sure what the good outcome here would have been, but Trump’s defense was “part of a broader pattern.”

This framing from @NBCNews really makes the editorial posture of the outlet on the “is Donald Trump literally Hitler?” question quite clear.

And of course chief @NBCNews voice @JoeNBC repeatedly compared Trump to Hitler…before going to visit Trump, which is a weird thing to do after calling someone Hitler.

The podcast from @NPR is the more intellectually dishonest but I couldn’t resist including the headline “#Memeoftheweek: comparing Donald Trump to Hitler.”

What could be more 2016?

Few outlets have repeated the Trump-is-Hitler trope as frequently as @MSNBC. Here’s just a couple, also including their leading voices like @Lawrence, @ZeeshanAleem and Frank Figluizzi (h/t @AnnCoulter) with perhaps the most bizarre version.

This is a real piece from @guardian

Democratic electeds have made a habit of comparing Trump to Hitler.

@RepJasmine doubled down on the idea after an off-the-cuff comment.

Of course, @NBCNews quoted both @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris comparing Trump and Hitler.

They did the same for @RepRobertGarcia, @RepHankJohnson, and others.

And unsurprisingly the online loonies have done this too. I’m running out of space but I always go to @TheRickWilson for his humor.

@DeanObeidallah, too.

The Trump-is-Hitler claim is one that @RachelBitecofer trots out often, so here’s just a couple.

I think @BruceBartlett wrote a book on Trump being Hitler?

I just don’t know that Hitler would have freed Israeli hostages held by Islamic terrorists?

Idk man.

Anyway, I’m sure there are more.

I just figured the news about Trump securing the release of Hamas’s hostages seemed very… not-Hitler.