Someone should probably ask Donald Trump if he knows how much his rhetoric and threats mirror those made by Adolf Hitler — because it’s been an open question for too long, the Washington Post recommended Monday.
“Stories about Trump’s flirtations with Hitler — or, at least, with some narrowly constructed vision of the mass murderer — have been around for decades,” wrote analyst Philip Bump.
“Is Trump doing so knowingly — or is he simply following the same path those dictators walked?”
The Washington Post’s plea comes on the heels of disturbing statements from the former president, and top Republican candidate, comparing detractors to vermin and pledging to punish critics upon his return to the White House.
His spokesperson also threatened those raising concerns of fascism by responding, “Their entire existence will be crushed.”
Reports show that Trump’s “flirtations with Hitler” began as early as 1990, when Vanity Fair reported Ivanka’s contention, which he denied, that he kept Hitler’s collected speeches in a cabinet by his bed.
During his tenure in the White House, Trump told White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, “Well, Hitler did a lot of good things,” according to Michael Bender’s book “Frankly, We Did Win This Election.”
Bump also notes Trump’s praise of autocrats, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Finally, Bump points to a recent Politico report that, when former German chancellor Angela Merkel compared Trump’s rallies to another populist leader, it was not clear if he knew she’d referenced Hitler — but certain that Trump took it as a compliment.
It is at this point Bump raises the question that Americans headed to the voting booths in November 2024 need answered, he says.
“Is it better if Trump doesn’t know how Hitler’s story ends — taking his own life as his grotesque empire collapsed having earned a reviled position in world history — or if he does?” Bump writes.
“Which possibility offers a less disconcerting set of possibilities for the post-2024 future?”
“And, of course, how does that distinction color other reports about what Trump has planned, that he wants to scour the federal bureaucracy of disagreement, turn federal law enforcement against opponents and imprison asylum seekers in camps?”
At least one commenter argued they’d heard enough.
“The leading Republican candidate is openly talking about establishing a totalitarian government and the Republican Party is on board with this,” wrote one commenter.
“It is a moment when decent people must stand up and say ‘enough!’ or eventually the monster will consume them, their family, and our country.”