Springtime for Hitler?
MAGAism vs. Nazism: a Grok tale-of-the-tape
Editor’s Note: Have a question about whether Matt will take the Pete Hegseth Pledge, abiding by restrictions that The Secretary of Defense War is inflicting on Pentagon reporters, costing them their Pentagon press credentials if they don’t sign on? Matt doesn’t report from the Pentagon. He doesn’t have time. He’s too busy being a Thinkfluencer. But he will take a Pete Hegseth pledge, even if it’s not the one Hegseth drafted, which goes like this: As long as Hegseth is SecDefWar, and even if he decides to step down in order to spend more time with his hair gel/mistress(es), Matt pledges to continue making unrelenting fun of Hegseth, as he did here. Any other questions? Ask Matt Labash at askmattlabash@gmail.com.
Dear Matt,
Is it time yet to make any parallels between the Nazis and MAGA?
Signed,
D. Bonhoeffer
Maybe. I don’t know. People have been calling each other Nazis in politics ever since Hitler put a Walther PPK to his head and pulled the trigger. (Though some alternative historians have suggested he might have been done in by George Soros-funded activists.)
I trace my own experience with domestic Nazism to my days as a wayward youth during the nineties, when there was still dew on the world and I was a fresh-faced cub reporter. (Metrosexuality was on the rise, so I still moisturized back then.) I had trekked down to Louisiana to hang out with David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and future Trump endorser, during his unsuccessful run for Congress. (When running for governor, Duke’s rival, the Lothario Edwin Edwards, noted that the only thing he and Duke had in common is that “we are both wizards under the sheets.”)
Due to his KKK pedigree, I had presumed from a distance, somewhat unfairly, that Duke hated blacks. Which was short-changing him. Because up close, upon really getting to know him, it became clear that who he really hated were The Jews. I mean, sure, Duke held that blacks were less buoyant than whites, and had wider nostrils so they could draw more air during fistfights. But they weren’t as problematic as The Jews, who in Duke’s telling, were responsible for every atrocity from the Russian Revolution to the Gulf War to airport metal detectors. When I asked him if he had any Jewish friends, he seemed insulted. “Of course I have,” he said incredulously, “my dentist.”
Being a pushy sort, I talked my way into Duke’s house in Mandeville outside New Orleans, which was decorated with all manner of white-supremacist-friendly touches, from The White Man’s Bible to Oktoberfest beer steins he brought home from his frequent trips to Bavaria. (I lived in Germany for three years as an Air Force brat, and revere German beer, but sometimes a stein isn’t just a stein.) And that’s when I started flipping through his vinyl, securing his reluctant assent after I repeatedly insisted. I’ve always maintained that looking through a man’s record collection is bit like rifling through his underwear drawer. It is the place where skid-marks of the soul are revealed. And Duke’s albums didn’t disappoint……
There was his nerd rock: Cat Stevens and Dan Fogelberg (don’t let the name fool you into thinking Dan was one of God’s Chosen People – he was of Scottish and Swedish descent). There were his German composers. (Beethoven and Wagner.) And then there were his Hitler speeches. Or at least I thought they were Hitler speeches. As I pulled out the album cover, it said “Hitler.” And when Duke violently shoved it back into the stack before I could fully read the title into my recorder, he said, “That’s just speeches. Don’t use that, ‘cause you’re going to use that against me…..I have a lot of historical stuff.”
Perhaps the primary difference between then and now being that people — even David Duke! — used to be ashamed of Hitler associations in the harsh light of day. When Trump himself was accused of keeping a book of Hitler speeches on his bedside cabinet by his embittered ex-wife, Ivana, he claimed, “If I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them.” Not a stretch to believe. Since most people can’t picture Trump reading a book, even the ones he’s “written.”
But these days, in the post-shame era that has become synonymous with Trumpism, some who tilt right (which is not to say that the left doesn’t have plenty of antisemitism problems of its own), seem nearly unabashed in their Nazi embrace, even if just to appear edge-lordy. (Thinking Nazism is cool is just about as big a problem as being one.) As of just the last week, we’ve been accosted by stories in which wingers got caught celebrating Nazism when they thought nobody was listening, which is usually more revealing than when people think they can be heard.
To wit, here’s a viral Politico story revealing the private Telegram messages of young GOP leaders throughout the country cracking wise about gas chambers, slavery, and rape. While I don’t care about the nihilistic stupidity enough to detail the who-said-what of it all, you can read about the specifics here. SparkNotes version?: Grown-ass men joking — or maybe not joking — about sending enemies to gas chambers, and loving Hitler, and being ready to watch people burn, and the dishonest Jews, and on and on.
Boys will be boys, the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, essentially said, when looking to excuse the behavior. Vance chose to criticize the critics of the Nerf Nazis much harder than he did the Nerf Nazis themselves, accusing critics of “pearl clutching.” (What exactly is a boy these days? Plenty of these cos-play Himmlers were in their thirties. And Republicans like Vance have totally supported rounding up actual college-age anti-Semites on campuses and deporting them.)
And of course, when even someone who is usually as morally bankrupt as MAGA rubber-stamper/the man with two first names, Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, denounces your denouncement (“All Republicans, including myself, 100 percent denounced that,” Mark-or-Wayne said, adding, “It’s a serious situation. There’s no room in the Republican Party for that at all”), it might be time for people like Vance to question what has gone wrong with their souls.
A cynic — and I hate to be one, it’s not my way — might suggest that Vance is just soft-peddling Hitler enthusiasm since when he was still a Never-Trumper, he once claimed his future boss resembled The Führer, and he no longer wishes to be reminded of that.
But just to make sure I’m not being too hard on my old friends in the GOP, who once tweeted out support of Kanye West, a self-proclaimed Hitler lover (“I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi” were merely two of Kanye’s claims, if you prefer your Hitler-lovers unambiguous), I actually asked a presumably unbiased source toward Trump — Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot — to draw me some comparisons between the Nazis and MAGA. Here’s what Grok came up with. Again, this isn’t from me, but from Elon’s artificial intelligence:
Nationalist Rhetoric:
Similarity in MAGA: “America First” slogan emphasizes U.S. supremacy and isolationism; portrays America as historically “great” but undermined by outsiders.
Similarity in Nazism: “Deutschland uber alles” (Germany above all) promoted Aryan racial superiority and German dominance.
Key Evidence/Examples: Trump’s 2016–2024 speeches: “Make America Great Again” revives 1980s nostalgia; parallels Hitler’s Mein Kampf vision of restoring a mythic past. Both use “great again” to evoke lost golden ages.
Scapegoating Minorities
Similarity in MAGA: Blames immigrants, Muslims, and “globalists” (often code for Jews) for economic woes, crime, and cultural decline.
Similarity in Nazisim: Blamed Jews, Roma, LGBTQ+ people, and communists for Germany’s post-WWI humiliation.
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: 2015 Muslim ban proposal; 2024 “poisoning the blood” comments on immigrants (echoing Hitler’s antisemitic blood purity rhetoric). Nazis: Nuremberg Laws (1935) targeting Jews.
Cult of Personality
Similarity in MAGA: Trump as infallible leader; rallies chant his name; “Trump Derangement Syndrome” dismisses critics.
Similarity in Nazism: Hitler as Führer (supreme guide); mass rallies with synchronized chants.
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot with Trump flags; loyalty oaths at events. Nazis: Nuremberg Rallies (1933–1938) with Hitler salutes. Both foster messianic devotion.
Anti-Intellectualism & “Fake News”
Similarity in MAGA: Attacks “fake news” media, “deep state,” and experts (e.g., scientists on COVID-19).
Similarity in Nazism: Denounced “Lügenpresse” (lying press) and burned books by intellectuals.
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: 2020–2025 claims of “rigged” elections/media bias. Nazis: Reichstag Fire Decree (1933) censoring press. Both erode trust in institutions to consolidate power.
Militarism & Law-and-Order
Similarity in MAGA: Calls for military parades, expanded police powers, and “retribution” against enemies.
Similarity in Nazism: Glorified Wehrmacht; SA/SS paramilitaries enforced order.
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: 2017–2019 military parade push; 2024 “enemy within” rhetoric targeting protesters. Nazis: Enabling Act (1933) militarized society. Both romanticize armed strength.
Authoritarian Tactics
Similarity in MAGA: Efforts to undermine elections (e.g., 2020 “Stop the Steal”); loyalty tests for officials.
Similarity in Nazism: Suspended democracy via Reichstag Fire; one-party rule.
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: 2020 pressure on state officials; 2024 plans for Schedule F to fire “disloyal” bureaucrats. Nazis: Night of the Long Knives (1934) purging rivals. Both prioritize loyalty over rule of law.
Symbolism & Aesthetics
Similarity in MAGA: Red MAGA hats as uniform; flags with Trump imagery; salutes at rallies.
Similarity in Nazism: Swastika armbands; Sieg Heil salutes.
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: Jan. 6 gallows and “Q” symbols; 2024 rally chants mimicking oaths. Nazis: Uniformed rallies for unity. Both use visuals to build tribal identity.
Economic Populism
Similarity in MAGA: Promises to workers while favoring corporations; anti-trade union in practice.
Similarity in Nazism: “National Socialism” appealed to workers but crushed unions for state control.
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: Tariffs for “forgotten man”; tax cuts for wealthy. Nazis: German Labor Front replaced unions (1933). Both blend worker appeals with elite cronyism.
Conspiracy Theories
Similarity in MAGA: QAnon (”deep state cabal”); “replacement theory” of immigrants.
Similarity in Nazism: Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Jewish world conspiracy).
Key Evidence/Examples: MAGA: 2016–2025 promotion of birtherism, election fraud. Nazis: 1920s–1940s antisemitic forgeries. Both fuel paranoia to justify purges.
Am I being too hard on MAGA? No, I’m not. Because these aren’t my comparisons, but rather, Elon’s AI brain’s, which is supposed to be replacing me. (I’m just trying to help along the future by giving it an early start.)
But the larger problem, I would suggest, isn’t even whether the comparisons closely track, but the fact that such comparisons warrant getting made at all. Some wingers are now going around saying they don’t support Hitler. Which, great! I’m happy for them!
But you know what was never, ever necessary on the right just about a half an hour ago? Having to assert that you don’t support Hitler! Which used to go without saying. It was kind of like not having to say that you don’t support baby-seal-clubbing or pedophilia. The latter of which, at least, is no longer a given.
And more important, whether today’s GOP is corrupted by Nazi sympathizers or just plain-Jane corruption enthusiasts, it’s nearly immaterial. Corruption is corruption. It invariably rots the mind and spirit, and knows no bounds, as one form tends to bleed into all the others. Which is why it’s becoming harder to draw lines of distinction. My old friends on the right have been claiming said corruption isn’t as bad as it’s actually been for ten years, now. And yet, I just wrote a piece on GOP Hitler enthusiasm, and not even Crazy Elon’s chatbot thinks the comparison is crazy.
Which most certainly is crazy, in and of itself.
Bonus Track: Sorry, don’t have a lot of good Hitler tunes in reserve. So let’s go with Mel Brooks’s “Springtime for Hitler.” The title song of the 1967 comic romp of a film about dishonest producers who put on what they hope will be the biggest Broadway flop ever, thinking they can pocket the extra money after overselling investors. Except that the Hitler-centric intended disaster they come up with becomes a smash hit. People love it! Not unlike Trumpism. Which started out a cynical joke, until we became the joke by earnestly adopting it.