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The Trump/Hitler Controversy Misses the Point [1]
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Date: 2025-04-29
On 31 March comedian Bill Maher went to dinner with President Trump at the White House. The following week, on his HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher, he described his experience. Maher noted that despite their political differences, Trump was polite and even signed Maher’s list of nasty comments he previously had made about the comedian. Maher reported that there “is not a crazy person in the White House.,,,” In retaliation, fellow comedian/television producer Larry David wrote a satirical piece called My Dinner with Adolf, which was published on 21 April in The New York Times. That provoked a controversy suggesting that no politician, especially Trump, should be compared to Adolf Hitler. Such a comparison, it was indicated, denigrated the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered under Hitler’s regime.
On 26 April, Michael Smerconish, on his Saturday CNN show, again raised the controversy. Smerconish supported the position that Larry David’s article made an erroneous analogy as Hitler was uniquely evil and no politician, no matter how bad, should be equated with him. Interestingly when polled, his audience disagreed with him by a wide margin (69%-31%). The news of the controversy also was carried by several other media outlets including Variety, Salon, Hollywood Reporter, and others.
The titillating media insider content and name-calling aside, the controversy masked a far greater issue. Specifically, that was how Adolf Hitler was appointed, elected and consolidated his dictatorship in only a matter of days. The year was 1933 when Hitler was appointed Chancellor. Historians generally agree it only took Hitler 53 days to transform Germany from the Weimar Republic democracy into an authoritarian form of government and did so using and abusing the constitution.
Notably, the Nazi Party had only 39 percent of the popular vote but that was more than any other group and they were able provide Hitler the political cover to pursue his agenda of dictatorship.
Immediately he appointed loyalists to key cabinet positions including Wilhelm Frick and Hermann Goring. On 23 March the Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz) was passed which gave Hitler nearly free reign. Article 2 stated: “Laws enacted by the Reich Government may deviate from the Constitution as long as they do not affect the institutions of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the President remain undisturbed.” And Article 4 included: “Reich treaties with foreign states that affect matters of Reich legislation shall not require the approval of the bodies concerned with legislation. The Reich Government shall issue the regulations required for the execution of such treaties.” Upon the death of Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, Hitler merged being Chancellor with the position of President and consolidated power.
The rise of the Third Reich was supported by many factors. They included a global economic depression and humiliation at the end of World War I. Hitler promised to help the German people. He needed villains and they included Communists, Jews and foreigners. One of the famous statements from Mein Kampf, included that foreigners were “poisoning the blood of our country.” In power, Hitler attacked free speech, due process, and public referendum and brought higher education and the legal system under governmental control. Also controlled was the media including the process of Aryanization as a means to attack Jewish owned businesses.
By now the comparisons should be glaringly obvious. Yes, Nazi Germany under Hitler did horrendous things. It did not start with industrial scale extermination camps. Rather, it began by consolidating power to a single source, undermining institutions, demonizing “others” and promising the gullible that Hitler’s actions were for the good of the “Volk” or “real Germans.”
A short list of actions by Trump that parallel Hitler’s playbook include:
- Accruing unauthorized powers
- Employed “emergency powers” to justify actions
- Appointing incompetent loyalist/sycophants to key positions:
o Pete Hegseth
o Marco Rubio
o Kristi Noem
o Russell Vought
o Pam Bondi
o Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
o Mehmet Oz
o Tulsi Gabbard.
o Kash Patel
o Dan Bongino
o Tom Homan
o Others
- Employing intimidation/coercion/extortion for political goals
- Ignoring laws
- Demonizing & deporting immigrants
- Demonizing other identifiable groups who have limited self-defense capabilities
- Attacking/intimidating/suing major media outlets
- Attacking/intimidating major academic institutions
- Attacking/subverting/intimidating legal institutions
o Suing legal firms
o Attacking Federal Judges
o Failure to obey Federal Court orders (including SCOTUS)
- Emphasized populism, false nationalism, and perceived victimization to gain support
- Relied on, or supported by, a gullible/ambivalent population
There are major differences between Weimar Germany and 21st Century America. One is that we have a far better understanding of how authoritarian governments evolve. We have observed the rise of Victor Orban in Hungary and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey and seen how power shifted under their incumbencies. Another change includes the dramatic advances in information technology (IT) and the diversity of means by which people acquire their information.
Even before Trump’s first term there were concerns about his authoritarian proclivities. Following the attempted coup of January 6th, 2021, most conscientious observers agreed that he posed a threat to American democracy. There were many attempts to warn the American voters that went unheeded despite the protestations of many experts and former senior officials.
In addressing our present state of governance, Harvard professor, Steven Levitsky, has noted repeatedly. "It is relatively mild compared to some others. It is certainly reversible, but we are no longer living in a liberal democracy." Princeton sociologist, Kim Lane Scheppele called our current state “competitive authoritarianism.” She stated, “In a competitive authoritarian system, a leader comes to power democratically and then erodes the system of checks and balances. Typically, the executive fills the civil service and key appointments — including the prosecutor's office and judiciary — with loyalists. He or she then attacks the media, universities and nongovernmental organizations to blunt public criticism and tilt the electoral playing field in the ruling party's favor.” Her comments apply directly to the new Trump administration. Importantly, hundreds of political scientists agree with that position.
We know Trump doesn’t read nor do most of the MAGA crowd. However, here is a list of some of the warnings that were available. I wish more people would read and heed the following:
How Democracies Die – Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt
Tyranny of the Minority – Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt
Confidence Man – Maggie Haberman
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created World’s Most Dangerous Man – Mary L. Trump
Rage -Bob Woodward
Fear – Bob Woodward
Peril – Bob Woodward & Robert Costa
On Tyranny – Timothy Snyder
On Freedom – Timothy Snyder
The Road to Unfreedom - Tymothy Snyder
Russian Roulette : The Inside Story of Putin’s War and America and the Election of Donald Trump – Michael Isikoff & David Corn
I Alone Can Fix It – Carol Leonnig & Philip Rucker
A Very Stable Genius – Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig
American Kompromat – Craig Unger
This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future – Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House – Michael Wolff
The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy – Michael Lewis
Who is Government – Michael Lewis
Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America - Jim Acosta
The Divider – Peter Baker & Susan Glasser
Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches – John Dean
How Civil Wars Start- and How to Stop Them - Barbara F. Walters
The Cruelty is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump’s America – Adam Serwer
Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence, - James Clapper
Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos – Peter Bergen
And there are thousands of articles written by astute political observers and they were raising hurricane level warning flags at every turn.
Hitler is not alone when it comes to mass extermination. Joseph Stalin was responsible for more deaths. That was 9 million by official count and possibly 20-60 million total. Mao Zedong claimed far more at 45 million fatalities and possibly 75-80 million. Given the population of the world was smaller, Genghis Khan was responsible for at least 20-40 million deaths and that was between five and ten percent of the total number of people in the world. (Today that would be the equivalent of nearly a billion people)
Based on Trump’s policies, Trump himself may be destined to join that despicable group. During his first administration due to mishandling of the Covid epidemic, reports estimate that over 40 percent of Covid-19 deaths were preventable or well over four hundred thousand (400,000). Dr Deborah Brix, who was a key member of the Covid team, places unnecessary deaths at over 735, 000. According to Lancet, Trump’s health care policies before covid place unnecessary deaths at over 450,000.
Those numbers pale when compared with projections of unnecessary deaths following the initial policies enacted during his current administration. Based on continuation of those policies, the projected attributable global loss of life is in the millions, if not tens of millions. To be clear, people are already dying as a direct result of Trump’s misguided policies. Based on the USAID cuts, it was reported in March that over 15,000 people have died including 1,500 children. Trump Administration drastic cuts in immunology threatens to bring a resurgence of HIV/AIDS which had been under steady decline. Some researchers are concerned that a new, drug resistant form of AIDS will emerge specifically because of Trumps policies regarding USAID.
The fatal consequences of Trump and his policies reach well beyond the obvious ones such as the publicized USAID fiasco. He is also responsible for a significant, but indeterminable number of unnecessary deaths due to his cancellation or interruption of critical health related research projects. As Nature reported, “The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has terminated nearly 800 research projects at a breakneck pace, wiping out significant chunks of funding to entire scientific fields.” Research into HIV/AIDS, Long Covid, and vaccine hesitancy were among the fields terminated. Notably, it was vaccine hesitancy that resulted in many thousands of the covid deaths of MAGA supporters. According to a House Appropriations Committee press release title “Trump Team Dismantles Efforts to Find a Cure for Cancer and Other Deadly Disorders and Diseases.” The members noted, “Once again, President Trump and Elon Musk are acting in direct violation of the law. In this case, they are causing irreparable damage to ongoing research to develop cures and treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, ALS, Diabetes, Mental Health disorders, opioid abuse, genetic diseases, rare diseases, and other diseases and conditions affecting American families.”
In addition, such unnecessary deaths will be attributable to the reckless and irresponsible reduction in force of various Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) elements that rendered them incapable of responding to emerging public health issues. One such case is exemplified in this response from Aaron Bernstein, director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, of the CDC. "I sincerely regret to inform you that due to the complete loss of our Lead Program, we will be unable to support you with this." There are other sub-elements of the CDC and other HHS organizations that no longer exist and their functions terminated at the expense of American lives.
These unconscionable actions will result in an unknowable number of deaths that will continue into perpetuity. Trump, and his policies and minions, are to blame.
Remember, that while there was some resistance, however:
The German people knew/supported/acquiesced or consciously ignored Hitler’s agenda
The Russian people knew/supported/acquiesced or consciously ignored Stalin’s agenda
The Chinese people knew/supported/acquiesced or consciously ignored Mao’s agenda
And consider:
The American people now know/support/acquiesce or consciously ignore Trump’s Project 2025 agenda. And if those horrific global fatality projections come to pass – that is on all of us. The time to speak out is now!
On Sunday, 27 April, Fareed Zakaria on his CNN GPS program made an astute observation. Fareed first outlined post- World War I, the century-long rise of American enterprise and power to global dominance. He then noted that in less than 100 days Trump has undone the 100 years of American progress.
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