Any journalist covering a Donald Trump rally is in for a drama-filled day. On Saturday night in Ohio, the drama rose to an anti-semitic level, when Trump supporters yelled the term “lugenpresse” at journalists, a term that dates back to the mid-1800’s when the Nazi’s tried to discredit the media reports Buzzfeed reporter Rosie Gray.
Buzzfeed describes the hate on the press by Trump supporters as a “familiar routine by now,” but the ugly rose to a new pitch Saturday night. The term “Lugenpresse” was yelled at journalists in the press pen at Trump rallies and is a term used by Nazi’s in the 1800s to tell the Germans the media couldn’t be trusted. It means, “lying press.”
Harassment of journalists at Trump rallies now includes old Nazi term for “lying press.” https://t.co/ZWsy248gfJ by @RosieGray
— Deborah Potter (@DPotterNews) October 24, 2016
The term came alive in Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday night. It’s not the first time that Nazi terms and anti-Semitic behavior has been thrown at the press by Trump supporters, reports the New York Times . In May of this year, a Jewish New York Times journalist was investigating the anti-semitic behavior of Donald Trump’s supporters, and in return, received a Twitter timeline “filled with raw hate and anti-Semitic torps that for centuries fueled expulsion, persecution, pogroms, and finally genocide.”
The New York Times says the anti-Semitic theme of the Trump supporters that identify with the “alt-right” are common. When Julia Ioffe wrote a profile on Melania Trump in GQ , she was reportedly “served up on social media in concentration camp garb and worse.” Conservative commentator and strategist Bethany Mandel also reportedly suffered anti-semitic hate from Trump supporters, strong enough to prompt her to purchase a firearm.
Buzzfeed wrote today, “it’s become a familiar routine” that Trump supporters were “haranguing the press” at a rally. Typically the press are usually just booed and screamed at, but this weekend, the taunts reportedly took an ugly pitch. Buzzfeed reports that the ugly started after the rally was over, and some Trump supporters approached the press pen shouting the usual insults, and accusing the press of being bought and paid for by the Clinton family.
“Lugenpresse, that is what you are,” a man shouted. He is joined by a man that applauds his correct usage of the word, “You said it right.”
The video was tweeted this weekend, and the public reacted.
Think about this for a minute. Breitbart is openly using #Lugenpresse , a Nazi reference, as a rallying cry. Brazen Hitlerism for Trump.
— Chris Dashiell (@cdashiell) October 24, 2016
No doubt that @realDonaldTrump ‘s deplorables are well acquainted with all manner of Nazi phrases. I wouldn’t expect otherwise. #Lugenpresse https://t.co/0HUgR0C39q
— Samantha Tyler (@BwitchedOne) October 24, 2016
In Nazi Germany, if the media was not loyal to the party, they were attacked. Buzzfeed reports the term is still used today in Germany, who fear the press is not being honest about Islam. Anti-Muslim protestors reportedly yell, “Lugenpresse, halt die Freese” at German reporters, a phrase that means “Shut up lying press.”
This weekend was a first for the term “lugenpresse” at a Trump rally. But it was not the first time a journalist was attacked with anti-semitic symbolism. Jim Acosta, a senior correspondent with CNN is on the campaign trail and tweeted this picture of a gift left in the press pen for American journalists during a presidential campaign rally.
A Trump supporter left behind this sign on media table in press pen. Shows swastika with word “media” pic.twitter.com/egrMm4shgl
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 13, 2016
Buzzfeed writes that during the rally this weekend when the press were attacked, one Trump supporter tried to stand up for the journalists, saying, “They’re nice people. They vote too. They didn’t give all their money to Clinton – did you?” Here is a video of one of the Lugenpresse moments, caught on tape by the Buzzfeed reporter.
The incident occurred on the same day that Donald Trump gave a speech near the same place Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in 1863, the speech infamously known as the Gettysburg Address. Donald Trump’s speech was reportedly about “promising change” and “fixing our very broken system.”
Donald Trump Promises Change in Gettysburg Speech: ‘Has to Come from Outside Our Very Broken System’ – Breitbart https://t.co/wCQNGRq8Nr
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 24, 2016
As he spoke of this, the press fulfilling their Constitutional duties were bracing to be “targets of vitriol, at nearly every rally ” reports Buzzfeed . Here’s a video of a CNN reporter getting attacked by a Trump supporter after one of the Presidential debates, a scene where the police needed to intervene.
Buzzfeed says that at the Florida rallies the day following the “lugenpresse” incident, journalists were met with boos and “tell the truth” shouting from Donald Trump supporters.
[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]