On August 13, 1920, Adolf Hitler gave a speech entitled “Why are we Antisemites?” to a large crowd of supporters at the Munich Hofbrauhaus. During the two hour speech, he was interrupted 58 times by his cheering audience of around 2000.
An article in Wikipedia about Hitler describes his formula for success with mobilizing working class Germans and building a loyal following:
He became adept at using populist themes, including the use of scapegoats, who were blamed for his listeners’ economic hardships.
Jews, of course, figured prominently on his list of scapegoats.
Now let’s consider Donald Trump. He certainly has no problem with holding up scapegoats for his supporters to hate. In fact, he’s really good a tapping into the anger and bigotry of his mostly white, mostly working class, mostly Christian followers.
When he blames immigrants for lower middle class economic malaise and talks about building a wall to keep them out, the crowds who attend his rallies can’t get enough.
When he calls for a ban on Muslims entering the country, suggests surveillance of mosques, and says he’s open to the creation of a database of Muslims in the United States, his supporters love that, too.
Seems to me, beyond the language spoken and who the scapegoats are, there’s little difference between a Trump rally today and Hitler’s Hofbrauhaus events in 1920.
The question is …
Will the response of the rest of American society to the threat posed by Trump’s proto-fascist movement be more effective than the response of the rest of German society was to Hitler’s Nazi Party?