It’s Time to Compare Trump and Hitler’s Rhetoric (and Pharaoh’s, Too)

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” -Mark Twain, reputedly

Dear Friends,

I recently learned about “Godwin’s Law.” It was created by Mike Godwin, an early internet enthusiast who coined the term in 1990. Godwin was troubled by the way that the rhetoric of online discussions inevitably escalated into extreme language, often culminating in someone comparing their debate opponent to Hitler or the Nazis, no matter what the topic under discussion.

To draw attention to this phenomenon, Godwin formulated it as a “law”, calling it a “pseudo-objective way...to make it funny.” Godwin’s law states: “As an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or to Nazis approaches 1.”

Godwin’s Law proved so popular that it in 2012 it was included in the Oxford English Dictionary.

I am very familiar with this phenomenon, and not only from internet debates. In my many years of leading classes and discussions, I learned that I could count on someone making their point (and derailing the discussion) by invoking the incomprehensible evil perpetrated by the Third Reich. As a result, I have always been very cautious when comparing current events to Hitler’s Germany, not wanting to make inflammatory statements that cut off thoughtful analysis.

However, in an interview about a year ago, Mike Godwin made clear that, unfortunately, he finds comparisons between Trump and Hitler’s rhetoric and tactics to be apt and fair. I agree with him. Trump regularly and reliably invokes metaphors and terms that mimic Hitler’s speeches. Godwin suspects that Trump is fully aware that he is parroting Hitler’s greatest hits, and that Trump does so because of the positive response these lines evoke from his followers. I think it is important to view Trump and Hitler’s words side by side, and I have collected some relevant examples below.

While noting the many similarities, it remains crucial that we recognize the differences between Hitler’s Germany of the 1930’s and Trump’s United States today. Germany was in the midst of a crippling economic depression; the U.S. is a wealthy nation with a thriving, though glaringly inequitable, economy. Germany had a scant history as a democracy – the Weimar Republic, which came into being in 1918, was the first time Germany had ever had a constitutional republic. Germany’s national institutions were not strongly established. The United States has been a constitutional democracy for almost 250 years, with strong traditions and institutions. Hitler focused primarily on the Jews as the source of Germany’s (and humanity’s) ills. Trump has chosen to focus on other scapegoats, especially immigrants, people with dark skin, Leftists, and trans people to explain what is “ruining” our country. (The danger to Jews is real and ominous in Trump’s America, but we are not currently in the explicit crosshairs as we were in Hitler’s Reich.)

These important distinctions do not detract from the common strategy of Hitler, Trump and all autocrats: to invoke an idealized past; to identify an “enemy within” that has destroyed that idyllic existence; and to dehumanize, isolate, blame and punish that enemy. In this way the autocrat can consolidate their power base as the “authentic” and deserving people, and can also assume greater and greater powers in order to combat the so-called existential emergency.

In the Jewish liturgical calendar, we are currently reading the Book of Exodus, and so my mind has also been on Pharaoh, the archetypal tyrant of the Bible. I find that the Torah’s descriptions of Pharaoh’s attitude and actions toward the Israelite slaves provides a timeless template of the autocrat’s playbook. So, for good measure I will include some Biblical passages next to some of the contemporary quotes. Here, then, are some samples of Hitler’s and Trump’s words that align with Pharaoh’s attitudes:

THE ENEMY WITHIN

And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.” Pharaoh, Exodus 1:9-10

“...[T]hey ought to have recognized that the strength of a nation lies, first of all, not in its arms but in its will, and that before conquering the external enemy the enemy at home would have to be eliminated,” Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf

“We have the greatest military in the world but you have to know how to use them. It's the enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That's a bigger enemy than China and Russia.” Donald Trump, October 11, 2024

“For never in our history have we been conquered by the strength of our outside enemies but only through our own failings and the enemy in our own camp,” Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf

“The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.” Donald Trump, November 11, 2024

SUBHUMAN

So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; they are animals. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” Exodus 1:18-19

“We shall take care that never again in Germany, the heart of Europe, will the Jewish-Bolshevik revolution of subhumans be able to be kindled either from within or through emissaries from without.” Heinrich Himmler (leader of the SS), 1936

“The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals’ … Nancy Pelosi told me that. She said, ‘Please don’t use the word animals when you’re talking about these people.’ I said, ‘I’ll use the word animal because that’s what they are.’” Donald Trump, April 2, 2024

VERMIN

But the Israelites...multiplied and swarmed, so that the land was filled with them. Exodus 1:7

“Should I not also have the right to eliminate millions of an inferior race that multiplies like vermin?” Adolph Hitler, Hitler Speaks, 1939

“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, the Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections.” Donald Trump, November 11, 2023

And here are some comments by Hitler and Trump that rely on race theory, an entirely modern concept that the Bible authors did not contemplate:

“POISONING OUR BLOOD”

“All the great civilizations of the past became decadent because the originally creative race died out, as a result of contamination of the blood.” Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf.

“They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done...But all over the world they’re coming into our country — from Africa, from Asia, all over the world. They’re pouring into our country.” Donald Trump, December 16, 2023

RACIAL PURITY

“In every mingling of Aryan blood with that of lower peoples the result was the end of the cultured people.” Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf

“You’ve got to get these people back where they came from. You have no choice. You're gonna lose your culture, you're gonna lose your country.” Donald Trump, September 28, 2024

GENETIC INFERIORITY

“Individual vices always recur in peoples as long as their inner nature, their genetic composition, does not undergo any essential change.” (Hitler address in Dusseldorf, 1932)

“Does anybody believe in genes? you guys believe in genetics? A murderer - I believe this – it’s in their genes, and we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.” Donald Trump, October 7, 2024

Finally:

A LEADER CHOSEN BY GOD

“Therefore I believe myself to be acting according to the wishes of the Creator. Insofar as I restrain the Jew, I am defending the work of the Lord.” Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf

“Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.” Donald Trump, November 5, 2024

RETRIBUTION

“The hour of retribution will come!” Adolph Hitler, New Year Proclamation, 1944

“I am your retribution. I am your retribution.” Donald Trump, March 4, 2023

As the above quotations show, Godwin’s Law no longer applies to discussions about Donald Trump’s designs. While many of us, myself included, remain shocked by Trump’s return to power, we must not ignore the evil that now rages in plain sight. With both modern history and the Torah as our guides, we must clearly name this evil, understand it, and resist it. These are dark times, but we are not alone. Many hear the echoes of Hitler’s regime, and are mobilizing to combat our nation’s current slide toward autocracy and fascism.

Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” We are not living in Nazi Germany, but especially as a Jew, I know I must listen for the dangerous cadences of that history. I know I must stand up for those who are being targeted in our nation, for further persecutions will follow in their wake. In my next post I will compare the Trump administration’s actions in its first weeks in office with the early days of the Hitler regime. The comparisons are urgent, informative and compelling.

As Moses charged the Children of Israel, חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ - Chazak v’amatz – Be strong and of good courage,

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler