A controversial political ad has sparked a firestorm by comparing former President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, starkly warning, “Germany bet wrong in 1933… will we?” The ad, which has sparked intense debate, argued that Trump’s rhetoric and actions echoed dangerous historical precedents, urging Americans to heed the lessons of history. The Lincoln Project, the PAC behind the ad, wrote on X, “We’ve seen what can happen before. Donald Trump is telling us what he will do to America, when will you believe him?”
We’ve seen what can happen before. Donald Trump is telling us what he will do to America, when will you believe him? pic.twitter.com/K5K2yUn4x7
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 16, 2024
There were some who resonated with the ad, and one person commented , “Vote him out! That is only way for people to realize power of democracy. 20% of the country cannot take us to dark ages. We need to move forward and not backwards!” Someone else stated, “You can’t repeat it often enough.”
You can’t repeat it often enough.
— Homer Moon (@homer6moon) May 17, 2024
As expected, the ad’s message has drawn strong reactions from apparent Trump supporters. One critic commented , “We are watching the justice system being eroded intentionally right before our eyes. Your projecting is laughable.” Another added , “Amazing the ones promoting this are exactly the ones already doing it.” A third user chimed in, “This not only doesn’t compute. It’s laughable actually. You might well compare him to Thanos, it’s that unbelievable. Reality does not require suspension of disbelief…. Lol.”
Until you show me the manifesto, statements like these are demagoguerous deceit of the public discourse.
— Respublica Constitutionalis (@RespublicaConst) May 16, 2024
However, this is not the first time Trump has faced comparisons to Hitler. Previously, Trump’s remarks at a rally in New Hampshire had fueled these allegations. He claimed, “They let — I think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country. When they do that, we got a lot of work to do. They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done. They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, not just to three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world,” as per NBC News.
‘Poisoning the blood of our country’ is a phrase chillingly reminiscent of language used by Hitler in Mein Kampf . Hitler wrote about the supposed ‘blood poisoning’ caused by racial mixing, which he believed led to the downfall of great cultures. Consequently, Trump’s statements were slammed by Biden’s campaign : “Donald Trump channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler, praised Kim Jong Un, and quoted Vladimir Putin while running for president on a promise to rule as a dictator and threaten American democracy . Trump is not shying away from his plan to lock up millions of people into detention camps and continues to lie about that time when Joe Biden obliterated him by over 7 million votes three years ago.”
As per PBS , however, Trump denied any intention to emulate Hitler and insisted he was unaware of the historical connotations of his words. Trump claimed, “I never knew that Hitler said it. I know nothing about Hitler. I have no idea what Hitler said other than (what) I’ve seen on the news. And that’s a very, entirely different thing than what I’m saying.”