Keith Olbermann On Hitler-Trump Similarities: ‘Luegenpresse,’ ‘Lock Her Up,’ ‘Jew-S-A’
Writer and political commentator Keith Olbermann, host of GQ‘s YouTube series The Closer, has been featured in dozens of scathing rebukes recently, taking Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump apart on a daily basis for the last several months.
In today’s The Closer, which contains coarse language, Olbermann contrasted the experience of distant German relatives from generations past watching Adolf Hitler rise from obscurity to infamy over the 1930s with bearing witness to Donald Trump’s rise from literal late-night-talk-show joke, to Republican nominee for president with an over 20 percent shot at winning the November 8 election, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.
Though there is a vast library of media documenting the horrors of World War II, some younger voters, as well as voters of all ages, may not be aware of the 1993 film, Schindler’s List, or the 2002 film, The Pianist. Each might be seen as appropriate starting points for those wishing to understand the rise of Adolf Hitler and the devastating consequences of the Holocaust.
Keith Olbermann makes it clear: Donald Trump, with his magnetism and his divisive rhetoric, is comparable to Adolf Hitler.
Olbermann asked what it must have been like to see the “growing acceptance” of everyday 1930s Germans to absurd, preposterous suggestions by a “monster in the making” leading to hate becoming part of “daily life.”
While he did not immediately address suggestions made by Donald Trump and his supporters that Hillary Clinton should be “locked up” or that, if elected, he would hire a “special prosecutor” to go after the former Secretary of State, as reported by Time, Olbermann spoke of Adolf Hitler moves to “jail opposing” candidates and his promises to “disband opposition.”
The journalist then spoke to Hitler’s supporters and how his hate-filled rhetoric had “moved the bar” to give credibility to their most “secret, violent fantasies.”
Olbermann described Adolf Hitler’s supporters’ desires to “hate and exclude and kill” and the acceptance of the Nazi leader giving them a platform to express and defend their views.
The GQ host described unaware German voters, caught up in a wave of misguided patriotism, “handing their votes over” and being thanked for their blind faith with “fear, privations, and death and destruction.”
At least 6 million Jews died during World War II; 60 million people lost their lives. What remained of Germany was in ruins; any of the wealth enjoyed by Germans before their defeat in 1945 was long-gone once the Allies moved on Berlin in April of that year. There were no winners.
“What would it be like to watch the sober agencies of government become gradually corrupted,” Keith Olbermann asked.
He asked what it would be like to watch the government forcibly “separate a minority” from the rest of the population by shipping them to camps. He asked what it would be like to watch “increasingly partisan” police forces become “militarized.”
“What would it be like to watch my country devolve and deteriorate from democracy to mindless, soulless, cult-worship. Thanks to Donald Trump, I am getting the chance to find out.”
Keith Olbermann cited a recent Donald Trump campaign rally participant chanting “Jew-S-A” and spitting at members of the media, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.
When asked about his behavior, the man, who has reportedly identified himself as George Lindell, stated that he was not attempting to convey antisemitism, but “empathy” with Hispanic Donald Trump supporters and their pronunciation of “U.S.A.”
Lindell reportedly told the reporters assembled at the rally that “Jews run the country anyway” and that they were “going down;” Olbermann appeared nonplussed with the Phoenix resident’s explanation.
The writer and host then turned to the use of the Nazi-era German term “luegenpresse,” translated to mean “lying press” in English, by Donald Trump supporters at a recent campaign stop in Cleveland. The phrase was said to be used to describe Western, free press outlets in communist East Germany in the 1960s.
Olbermann stated that during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, luegenpresse was used convey the idea of “lying Jews.”
The host spoke about another Trump rally supporter, Matt Fox, who declared that members of the media present were homosexuals. He later defended his actions, stating that “queer” is a synonym for “happy.”
Keith Olbermann cited a Trump Agricultural Advisory Committee member who tweeted the result of an obscene poll, which referred to Hillary Clinton as a “c***,” and a speaker a Las Vegas rally stating that Donald Trump and his supporters were coming to put Hillary Clinton “in prison.”
Olbermann then spoke about 63-year-old veteran C.J. Cary, a black man and devoted Trump supporter, who has reportedly personally corresponded with Donald since 1992, and who was whisked away by guards after approaching “within 20 feet” of the stage while holding a piece of paper, shouting “Donald, Donald,” at a Donald Trump rally.
“We have a protestor. By the way, were you paid $1,500 to be a thug? You can get him out. Get him out,” Donald Trump was quoted speaking with regard to Cary in front of the rest of his supporters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r496UPraKvk
Keith Olbermann described Cary replacing Trump yard signs, one after another, until he had gone through 40, so great was his love of the Republican. The paper he was waving at the rally was said to contain a suggestion about how to stop alienating minorities, so Trump would have a better shot a winning the election.
The GQ writer listed some of the slurs used against gays, African-Americans, and Jews, among many other examples, used by Donald Trump supporters.
“What would it be like to see my country devolve and deteriorate from democracy to mindless, soulless, cult-worship?” Olbermann asked once again. “Thanks to Donald Trump, I am getting the chance to find out.”
[Featured Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images]
