Thread by @ZemanLynnZ

Leading Civil Rights Lawyer Shows 20 Ways Trump Is Copying Hitler’s Early Rhetoric and Policies

Questions whether federal government can contain Trump and GOP power grabs

#TrumpFascism @GOP #TraitorsSupportTraitors #RepublicansForTheRuleOfLaw #Trump
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/…

20 serious points of comparison between early Hitler and Trump

1. Neither was elected by a majority. Once installed Hitler set about demonizing his political opponents, and no one mounted a serious effort to stop him

#Trump #Trumpdemic #TrumpHitler

2. Both Trump and Hitler found direct communication channels to their base. Hitler found direct communication pathway—the Nazi Party gave out radios with only one channel, tuned to Hitler’s voice, bypassing Germany’s news media

Trump tweets

3. Both blame and divide on racial lines. Hitler used single-frequency radios to wax hysterical to adoring base his pathological racial and religious fantasies glorifying Aryans and demonizing Jews

Trump’s tweets and public statements use “racially tinged” messages to divide

4. Both relentlessly demonize opponents. “Hitler’s radio harangues demonized his domestic political opponents.

Trump’s tweets and speeches similarly demonize his political opponents. Trump talks about the country being ‘infested’ with dangerous aliens of color.

5. Both Trump and Hitler attack objective truth by seeking to delegitimize mainstream press. Hitler quickly coined Lügenpresse (literally ‘lying press’)

Trump uses a paraphrase of Hitler’s lying press epithet—‘fake news’—cribbed, no doubt, from one of Hitler’s speeches

6. Trump’s assaults on media echo Hitler’s, noting he “repeatedly attacks “failing NYTs’ leads crowds in chanting ‘CNN sucks,’ [and] is personally hostile to most reporters.” He cites WH’s refusal to fly flag half-mast after murder of five journalists in Annapolis in June 2018

7. Their attacks on truth include science. Both Trump and Hitler intensified assault by deriding scientific experts, especially academics who question Hitler’s views on race or Trump’s views on climate change, immigration, or economics and what is false.

8. Both Trump and Hitler lies blur reality—and supporters spread them. “Trump’s pathological penchant for repeatedly lying about his behavior can only succeed when his supporters feel free to embrace Trump’s ‘alternative facts’ and treat hyperbolic exaggerations as gospel truth,”

9. Both orchestrated mass rallies to show status. Hitler reinforced his emotional bond w/ his base by holding carefully orchestrated mass meetings

Trump carefully orchestrated mass rallies reinforcing Trump’s insatiable narcissism and his status as a charismatic leader.”

10. Both embrace extreme nationalism. “Hitler’s strident appeals to the base invoked an extreme version of German nationalism

Trump echoes Hitler’s jingoistic appeal to ultranationalist fervor, extolling American exceptionalism right down to slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’

11. Both made closing borders a centerpiece. “Hitler all but closed Germany’s borders, freezing non-Aryan migration

Like Hitler, Trump has made closed borders a centerpiece of his admin. Trump bars Muslims and seekers of sanctuary from Central America.

12. Both embraced mass detention and deportations

13. Both used borders to protect selected industries.

14. They cemented their rule by enriching elites.

15. Both rejected international norms. “Hitler’s foreign policy rejected international cooperation in favor of military and economic coercion

Like Hitler, Trump is deeply hostile to multinational cooperation, withdrawing from Paris Agreement and nuclear agreement with Iran

16. Hitler and Trump attack domestic democratic processes

17. Both attack the judiciary and rule of law.

18. Both glorify the military and demand loyalty oaths

19. They proclaim unchecked power

20. Both relegate women to subordinate roles. Hitler propounded a misogynistic, stereotypical view of women

Trump may be the most openly misogynist figure ever to hold high public office in the US