Donald Trump a Nazi? No! | Mulshine

Have none of these people heard of Godwin’s law?

Godwin’s law is the rule of internet discourse that states that an online thread ends the moment someone introduces Adolf Hitler into the discussion.

By that measure, this presidential campaign is over.

The defining moment came during an interview in which CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Vice President Kamala Harris, “Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?”

“Yes, I do,” Harris replied. Then, as is her wont, she repeated herself, “Yes, I do.”

The vice president did not utter the other N-word — “Nazi” — but her supporters drew comparisons between Donald Trump’s large rally on Sunday at Madison Square Garden and a large pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in 1939.

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Typical was a headline on the left-wing Truthout site: “Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally Mirrors Shameful 1939 NYC Nazi Gathering.”

No, that didn’t happen. For starters, there were many real Nazis present at the 1939 meeting, wearing uniforms and swastikas.

On the other hand, that rally did not include a pro wrestler and comedian, as was the case at Trump’s recent rally.

Of the two, Hulk Hogan gave the best speech.

“I don’t see any stinking domestic terrorists here,” Hogan said. “All I see here is a bunch of hardworking men and women who are real Americans, brother.”

The crowd went wild, but the Hulkster should have stopped while he was in the lead. When he tried his signature trick of taking off his T-shirt, it didn’t tear.

But that’s show business. And show business is what The Donald did for most of his life before entering politics.

That might explain why he had a comedian on the bill. But an insult comedian?

Unfortunately for the Donald, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe decided to tell a joke about an ethnic group that could sway the vote in a closely divided state like Pennsylvania.

The setup for the joke was that strip of debris in the ocean that appears in the news every now and then:

“There is now literally a floating waste island in the middle of the ocean,” Hinchcliffe said.

So far, so good. But then the point:

“I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

That attempted quip turned what was supposed to be a show of support for Trump into an endless source of points-grabbing for the Democrats.

But one of those Democrats was none other than the president. Joe Biden said of Trump: “Recently, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico ‘a floating island of trash.’ Well, let me tell you something… I don’t know the Puerto Ricans I know… or Puerto Rico where I am – in my home state of Delaware – they are good, decent, honorable people,” Biden said.

“The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden added, bringing up echoes of the “basket of deplorables” comment that helped sink Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But are those Trump supporters fascist?

Here’s a hint: when fascists come to power, they confiscate the guns. But under Trump’s policies, even many people who shouldn’t have guns manage to get them. One took shots at the president.

You can call that bad policy, but you can’t call it fascist.

The term had a more positive meaning before Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ruined it.

The back of the American dime even featured the “fasces” – sticks bundled together for strength.

But that was dropped after World War II, when Hitler and Mussolini had done their dirty work.

Trump does not meet the definition. This also applies to most of his policies, especially when it concerns war.

Fascists like to be in battle. Trump prides himself on keeping the US out of wars during his four years as president. He has also made it clear that he wants to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. He didn’t say how, but it’s a sentiment that cannot be called fascist under any use of the word I’ve come across.

I first heard the term used widely when I was a college student during the Vietnam War. The anti-war people called the pro-war people fascists. The pro-war people called the anti-war people commies.

At least that was a clear separation.

But in the years since, the term “fascist” has been used against any leader who has an enthusiastic group of followers. I suspect Harris wishes her followers were as enthusiastic as Donald’s.

Unfortunately, Godwin’s Law cannot put an end to the current onslaught of nasty name-calling.

But Election Day can – and it can’t come soon enough.

More: Recent columns by Paul Mulshine.

Paul Mulshine can be reached at [email protected].

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