Donald Trump is breaking the unbreakable internet rule that states you’re winning the fight when the person you’re fighting compares you to Adolf Hitler, says the coiner of said unbreakable rule.
Mike Godwin of Godwin’s law renown told Politico Tuesday that Trump has proven the exception to his rule, coined more than three decades ago, that says most internet arguments will include a Hitler comparison, and that comparison will come from the person who's losing.
Godwin argues President Joe Biden’s campaign’s decision to say Trump “parroted Adolf Hitler” isn’t a sign that they’re losing the fight against because Trump is so clearly courting the comparison.
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“You could say the ‘vermin’ remark or the ‘poisoning the blood’ remark, maybe one of them would be a coincidence,” Godwin told Politico. “But both of them pretty much make it clear that there’s something thematic going on, and I can’t believe it’s accidental.”
In the interview, Godwin argues Trump is treating Hitler like a comedian whose punch lines he wants to steal, looking for the lines that get the applause, the video clip, the publicity and the pushback, Godwin contends.
“With Trump, whatever else you might say about him, he knows what kinds of lines generate the kinds of reactions that he wants,” Godwin says. “The question is why do it on purpose.”
While people such as former Rep. Liz Cheney have argued Trump is launching a power-grab aimed at unraveling the rule of law, Godwin believes the former president's motives are more immediate.
“Trump believes, for whatever reason, that there is some part of his base that really wants to hear this message said that way, and he’s catering to them,” Godwin says.
“He finds it both rewarding personally for himself," Godwin adds. "And he believes it’s necessary to motivate people to help him get elected again.”
