But seriously, is Trump now openly embracing fascism?

As I’ve noted, on Monday evening Trump posted a 30-second video on his Truth Social site featuring images of hypothetical newspaper articles celebrating his 2024 victory and referring to “the creation of a unified Reich” under the headline “What’s next for America?”

References to “the creation of a unified Reich” appear three times in the short video, including “German industrial strength significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich.” One hypothetical article asserts that Trump deported 15 million migrants in a second term, while text onscreen lists the start and end days of World War I. Another headline says he rejected “globalists.”

There have been indications of Trump’s fascination with fascism before this. Consider his uses of fascist language — calling immigrants “vermin” who “poison the blood” of America — and his repeated fascistic claims that “I am your voice. I alone can fix it.”

Besides, the white Christian nationalism that Trump touts bears a remarkably close resemblance to Nazism.

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During his time in office, Trump reportedly claimed that Adolf Hitler “did some good things.” Trump berated his generals with insults like, “you f—king generals, why can’t you be like the German generals … in World War II?” according to the account of former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

More generally, see this.

But this Third Reich video is the first time Trump has explicitly embraced Nazi fascism.

The “Third Reich” was the official Nazi designation for its regime from January 1933 to May 1945, as the presumed successor to the medieval and early modern Holy Roman Empire of 800 to 1806 (which the Nazis designated the First Reich) and the German Empire of 1871 to 1918 (which they called the Second Reich). Hitler stoked resentment against the loss of the German Empire and against Jews, whom the Nazis often referred to as globalists.

The Trump campaign has distanced itself from the video. A campaign spokesman claimed it was “not an [official] campaign video” and was “reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word.”

Yet it remained posted on Truth Social for 19 hours before finally being taken down yesterday.

In July 2015, during Trump’s first bid for the White House, his campaign’s official Twitter account posted — and then quickly deleted — an image featuring Nazi soldiers superimposed between the stripes of an American flag. At the time, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization — a fellow named Michael Cohen — blamed the post on a “young intern” who apparently “did not see very faded figures within the flag.”

Trump’s defenders argue that there’s no valid comparison between Trumpism and Nazism, yet Trump and his campaign continue to invite the comparison.

I don’t believe the Monday post was a mistake. I believe Trump is now moving to openly signal his embrace of fascism.

What do you think?

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Robert Reich is a professor at Berkeley and was secretary of labor under Bill Clinton. You can find his writing at https://robertreich.substack.com/.