April 5, 2019

Campaigning in Iowa, Beto O'Rourke was asked to clarify remarks he made in which he made comparisons between Trump's administration and Hitler's reign of Nazi Germany. Now, O'Rourke is certainly not the first to make this comparison, nor will he be the last. Some of us have been ringing the alarm bells about this since at least as far back as 2015. But to his credit, O'Rourke stuck to his convictions and didn't back down from the very apt comparison.

REPORTER: Beto, you compared the Trump administration to Nazi Germany. Can you elaborate on that? Why did you make that comparison?

O'ROURKE: Well, I compared the rhetoric the president has employed to rhetoric that you might have heard during the Third Reich. Calling human beings "an infestation" is something we might have expected to hear in Nazi Germany. Describing immigrants who have a track record of committing violent crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans as "rapists" and "criminals," seeking to ban all Muslims — all people of one religion — what other country on the face of the planet does that kind of thing? Or in our human history? Or in the history of the western world? Because they are somehow deficient or violent or a threat to us? Putting kids in cages? Saying that neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists are "very fine people?" You draw your own conclusions. But these are not something that I expected to hear a president of the United States of America ever say.

I mean, it may even be that Trump is starting to enjoy the comparison, and take it as a compliment? It might explain his fantasy exposition the other day saying his father was born in Germany...

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon