Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House, is the Karl Rove of Sean Spicers. Kirkapolooza raised $389 million.
GROK
- The X post by Maine (@TheMaineWonk) highlights a speech by Stephen Miller at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist assassinated in 2025, where Miller's rhetoric mirrors themes from Joseph Goebbels' speeches, specifically the 1930 funeral of Horst Wessel and the 1932 "A Storm is Coming" address, suggesting a concerning parallel to Nazi propaganda tactics.
- This comparison is part of a broader pattern where Miller, a key figure in Donald Trump's administration, has been noted for adopting language and strategies from far-right ideologues, as detailed in Jean Guerrero's 2020 book "Hatemonger," which traces Miller's radicalization and influence on anti-immigration policies, indicating a continuity of extremist rhetoric.
- The context of Kirk's assassination and the subsequent memorial, attended by over 90,000 people and viewed by millions, underscores the polarization and heightened emotions surrounding political violence, with Erika Kirk's forgiveness of the killer contrasting sharply with Miller's inflammatory language, potentially exacerbating tensions rather than fostering reconciliation.
GEMINI
During a memorial service for Charlie Kirk in 2025, Stephen Miller delivered a speech that contained passages that were noted for their similarity to rhetoric used by Joseph Goebbels.
Specifically, Miller's speech included these lines: "To those trying to incite violence against us, those trying to foment hatred against us, what do you have? You have nothing. You are nothing. You are wickedness. You are jealousy. You are envy. You are hatred. You are nothing. You can build nothing. You can produce nothing. You can create nothing. We are the ones who build. We are the ones who create. We are the ones who lift up humanity."
- The comparison to Goebbels' speeches has been drawn by critics who point to the use of a dramatic us-versus-them dichotomy and the dehumanizing of political opponents. While there's no evidence that Miller explicitly quoted Goebbels, the thematic parallels have been highlighted.
- For example, Goebbels, in his 1943 "Total War" speech (which contained the line "And storm, break loose!"), often painted a stark picture of the German people as the last defense against "Bolshevism" and "international Jewry," defining the opposition not just as political rivals but as a destructive force. This created a powerful narrative of a righteous people fighting against a vile and corrupt enemy that "can build nothing." This tactic is seen as mirroring Miller's characterization of his opponents as "wickedness," "hatred," and "nothing," in contrast to "we who build" and "create."
- In the 1930 funeral for Horst Wessel, Goebbels also used the death of a "martyr" to mobilize support and create a sense of moral superiority and righteous struggle against those perceived as enemies. The use of a memorial service for a deceased activist to frame a broader political conflict and rally supporters echoes Goebbels' use of Wessel's death as a propaganda tool. The language used in Miller's speech also reinforces this, blurring the actions of an individual with an entire political group, portraying them as a singular, malevolent force.
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Since I dubbed Stephen Miller "Discount Goebbels," a few comments on his literal plagiarism of the real thing yesterday.
IMO, Trump was rattled (unsurprisingly!!) by the assassination attempt last year. I think he might never have gotten it back together for the election. IMO, Miller got him back.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel.bsky.social) Sep 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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I think Trump's entire Admin, especially the last week, has continued that. Trump is a psychopath & didn't so much grieve Kirk, who was most important person in his election win. But he was rattled.
Miller (and his spouse, who was the first to use this language) swooped in again to exploit that.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel.bsky.social) Sep 22, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The word Pompatus is probably a corruption of—or imagined variation on—the word "puppetutes", which was itself a coinage, originated by Vernon Green at the age of 14. Green included the word "puppetutes" in the lyrics of doo-wop song "The Letter" (1954), as performed by him and The Medallions. "The Letter" also included another original coinage, "pismotality". Presumably in homage to the Medallions' song, Steve Miller used the nonce words "epismetology" and "pompatus" in the lyrics of two of his other songs, "Enter Maurice" and "The Conversation", one of which is, like "The Letter", in spoken-word style.
