'Unified Reich': Trump campaign goes full Nazi

In a shocking development – even by the Republican Party's low, low standards – Donald Trump has directly framed his campaign using Nazi terminology.

A video posted on his social media accounts yesterday promised a "unified Reich" if he wins the presidency in 2024.

From the Associated Press:

A video posted to Donald Trump’s account on his social media network Monday included references to a “unified Reich” among hypothetical news headlines if he wins the election in November.

The headline appears among messages flashing across the screen such as “Trump wins!!” and “Economy booms!” Other headlines appear to be references to World War I.

The word “Reich” is often largely associated with Nazi Germany’s Third Reich, though the references in the video Trump shared appear to be a reference to the formation of the modern pan-German nation, unifying smaller states into a single Reich, or empire, in 1871.

Trump’s social media account shares a campaign video with a headline about a ‘unified Reich’

A video posted to Donald Trump’s account on his social media network Monday included references to a “unified Reich.”

AP NewsMICHELLE L. PRICE

As the AP story points out, this is not the first time Trump has framed his campaign in Nazi terms. In recent years, he has used the words of Adolf Hitler to attack immigrants, has dined with Holocaust deniers and has downplayed "the 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white nationalists chanted 'Jews will not replace us!'" Retired Marine General John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, quoted Trump as praising Hitler.

The Trump campaign says the 30-second ad was erroneously posted by a staffer and says it wasn't aware of the "reich" language before it shared the video with Trump's millions of social media followers.

We don't buy this excuse. There's no way a presidential campaign would post a video without conducting a thorough vetting at multiple levels. This was clearly an intentional provocation as part of Trump's "trial balloon" strategy in which he floats offensive or outrageous ideas to test public reaction.

Trump is telling us exactly what he plans to do if he gets another term. He is framing his return to power as an authoritarian effort, and he is overtly using Nazi language and symbolism to drive home the point.

This wasn't a mistake. It isn't a joke. American freedom and democracy are on the line in 2024. The main headline in Trump's ad asks: "What's Next for America?" Trump's answer: authoritarianism and fascism.

So what can you do? For starters, you can make sure to send the AP story to everyone you know by sharing this link: https://apnews.com/article/trump-election-2024-rhetoric-germany-antisemitism-31002afb91b642c0314223d19e51f427#fa

The stakes of this election couldn't be any higher. Trump is telling us exactly who he is – and what's in store for our future if he gets a second term.

Every one of us has a moral duty to prevent that from happening.