The ballot is stronger than the bullet. – Abraham Lincoln
It’s a trick as old as politics itself—compare your opponent to the worst villain you can find. The latest target? Donald Trump. The New Republic plastered him on their cover, sporting a Hitler mustache under the banner: “American Fascism: What It Would Look Like.”
- The New Republic’s latest cover likens Trump to Hitler, continuing a long history of comparing Republican figures to Nazis.
- Hitler comparisons are a common tactic in political discourse but often lack nuance and are intellectually dishonest.
- Such analogies are frequently used for shock value but undermine serious debate by reducing complex issues to lazy comparisons.
The message is clear. To them, Trump’s critics aren’t going too far. They’re not even close, they argue. They see 1932 Germany written all over his rise. A warning from history. But the comparisons don’t stop at Trump. They never have.
Madonna called John McCain a Hitler. Mitt Romney, too. Even Dan Quayle once got slapped with a Nazi label. George W. Bush caught it worse than most. Al Gore, George Soros, plenty more, said Bush pushed a Nazi ideology. Even after he left office, kids were filling out Venn diagrams in school comparing him to Hitler.
It’s almost a reflex now. Someone gets mad, and out comes the Hitler card. They call it “Reductio ad Hitlerum”—even has its own Wikipedia page. It’s a lazy play. Hitler’s an easy villain. The ultimate bad guy. So, the comparisons come, again and again.
And yet, for all the shock value, it’s hollow. Comparing anyone to Hitler—one of history’s true monsters—is cheap. It’s an insult to history. Worse, it makes real evil look small. These smears pop up everywhere. But when people fling them around, it only shows they’re out of ideas. Or just not that smart.
Trump’s critics see fascism in his every move. They call him authoritarian, and claim his presidency unleashed hate. But the truth is, they’ve called almost every Republican leader the same thing. Reagan, Nixon, even Barry Goldwater took hits. But it doesn’t make it right. And it doesn’t make it true.
Hitler comparisons keep coming. But each time, they mean less. It’s all part of the game. Cheap shots and scare tactics. Nothing more.
The Morning Muster
