When Donald Trump is confronted with news he does not like, he has an unfortunate habit of referencing Nazi Germany. In January 2017, for example, shortly before the Republican was inaugurated, he accused U.S. intelligence agencies of leaking information that made him look bad. “Are we living in Nazi Germany?” Trump asked at the time — as if leaks from intelligence agencies were a significant problem with Hitler’s regime.
During his White House tenure, Trump not only expressed his disappointment with U.S. military leaders, he also reportedly said he wanted them to be more like “the German generals in World War II.”
After his 2020 defeat, as his legal troubles intensified, Trump described FBI agents as part of “the Gestapo,” and accused special counsel Smith of overseeing “a Gestapo type operation.”
Over the weekend, the former president added to the list. NBC News reported:
Donald Trump compared President Joe Biden’s administration to the secret police force of Nazi Germany in remarks at a private, closed-door donor retreat on Saturday afternoon. … “These people are running a Gestapo administration,” Trump said, according to audio of the luncheon provided to NBC News.
President Joe Biden’s team was not impressed.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said the Democratic incumbent is focused on bringing Americans together, “instead of echoing the appalling rhetoric of fascists, lunching with Neo Nazis, and fanning debunked conspiracy theories that have cost brave police officer their lives.”
It’s an important detail — because Trump’s over-the-top whining isn’t just factually wrong and morally offensive, it’s also deeply ironic.
As a factual matter, Biden is not responsible for his predecessor’s criminal charges, and the idea that federal law enforcement resembles the Third Reich’s secret police force is stark raving mad.
But as a political matter, if the Republican really wants to have a debate along these lines, he might not like where it ends up. The presumptive GOP nominee, after all, has spent recent months echoing Hitler while lashing out at immigrants, complaining that immigration is “poisoning the blood of our country” and describing migrants as “vermin.”
He’s also the candidate who continues to raise the prospect of building new detention camps, creating a temporary “dictatorship,” cracking down on the free press.
When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum about the “Gestapo” rhetoric, the Republican vice presidential contender said it was simply “a short comment.”
Maybe so, but the length of the comments wasn’t the problem.
