Liam Conner
A video posted to Donald Trump’s social media account on Monday included references to a “unified Reich” among hypothetical headlines depicting an election victory for him in November.
The headline appears between messages flashing on the screen, such as “Trump Wins!!” and “Economic booms!” Other headlines appear to be references to the First World War.
The word “reich” is often associated with the Third Reich of Nazi Germany, although references in the video shared by Trump appear to be a reference to the formation of the modern Pan-German nation, unifying smaller states into a single reich, or empire, in 1871.
Chris DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images
The 30-second video appeared on Trump’s account at a time when the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, while trying to portray President Biden as soft on anti-Semitism, has repeatedly faced criticism for using language and rhetoric associated with Nazi Germany.
It was posted and shared on the former president’s Truth Social account while he was on a lunch break at his secret trial in Manhattan.
His campaign said the word was not used on purpose.
“This was not a campaign video; it was created by a random online account and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word (reich) while the president was in court,” said Karoline Leavitt, the campaign’s press secretary, in a statement. an affirmation.
But, Agence France-Presse reports, the Biden campaign said in a blunt statement responding to the video that Trump has a “long history” of anti-Semitic behavior.
“Donald Trump is not kidding. He is telling America exactly what he intends to do if he regains power: govern like a dictator over a ‘unified Reich,'” Biden-Harris spokesman James Singer said in the statement .
Earlier this month, Trump said at a fundraiser that Biden runs a “Gestapo administration,” referring to the Nazi secret police force.
Trump previously used rhetoric echoing Adolf Hitler when he said immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and called his opponents “vermin.”
The former president also provoked widespread reaction for having had dinner with Holocaust-denying white nationalist Nick Fuentes in 2021 and to minimize the 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginiawhere white nationalists shouted “Jews will not replace us!”
At least one of the headlines appearing in the video appears to be text copied verbatim from a Wikipedia entry on World War I: “German industrial strength and production increased significantly after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich.”
In one image, the headlines “Border closed” and “15 million illegal aliens deported” appear above smaller text with the start and end dates of the First World War.
