A video posted to Donald Trump’s account on his Truth Social platform Monday and deleted on Tuesday flashed the phrase “the creation of a unified Reich” on screen when envisioning what America would be like should Trump return to the White House.
The video sparked outrage that went beyond social media, with “Good Morning America” congressional correspondent Rachel Scott saying that it was “not normal” for presidential candidates to share videos containing “references to Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler.”
The Associated Press reports that Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt claims the video was not sanctioned by the campaign. She said it was created by a "random account online" and posted by an anonymous staffer who didn’t spot the Nazi-related reference. Considering the poor quality of the video, that seems almost plausible.
But this explanation contradicts what Trump has said about who controls his personal Truth Social account, and it fails to explain a pattern of Nazi dog whistles that has long been a part of Trump’s act.
The actual line of text that ends with the words “unified Reich” is somewhat faint and difficult to read on screen. There are also other phrases scattered around the images in the video, including handwritten notes related to World War I and other text that is hard to read.
However, it’s difficult to believe that the use of this snippet of text was accidental. Not only is it featured as the video launches into claims about what will happen if Trump is victorious, but the same block of text returns a second time next to the MAGA logo at the video’s conclusion.
These words appear twice, at prominent positions in the video, in places where the camera pauses and zooms in. The inclusion and positioning of the text were clearly intentional.
There’s also an issue with the campaign’s claim that some unknown staffer posted this video. Trump has made it very clear that only he and former White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino have access to his account.
But the biggest reason to believe the use of Nazi phrasing in a Trump campaign video was intentional is because it’s part of an extensive pattern. Trump has filled his campaign rallies with phrases lifted from the writings of Adolf Hitler. That includes talking about immigrants “poisoning the blood” of the country and describing his opponents as “vermin” to be eliminated. Trump has echoed phrases from the Holocaust, modeled his “Big Lie” election denial after Nazi propaganda, and published an ad tagging his supposed enemies with a symbol the Nazis used for political prisoners.
The “unified Reich” ad isn’t a shocking example of a singular slip-up: It’s another instance of Trump’s willingness to blow a fascist, white supremacist dog whistle. This is the same man who kicked off his first campaign with a claim that Mexicans were rapists and drug runners.
The campaign video containing the Nazi phrase was deleted from Trump’s Truth Social account on Tuesday. But it did its job, as did coverage of the resulting outrage. Trump’s most faithful supporters saw the promise he intended to make, even if that promise was delivered in a way that allowed his campaign to say it wasn’t intentional. The signal was clear: This is where we’re going, but we can’t say it openly.
At least not yet.
Ian Bassin is the former associate White House counsel and co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy. Protect Democracy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group focused on anti-authoritarianism, how to protect our democracy, and safeguarding our free and fair elections.
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