Rachel Maddow discussed Donald Trump’s use of rhetoric reminiscent of Hitler and Mussolini and its appeal to certain voters.
She emphasized that such language is not just dangerous but strategically effective, aiming to undermine democratic institutions and promote the idea of a strongman.
Maddow urged individuals to reject politics that demonize opponents and groups within society. (Trending: Donald Trump Breaks His Silence After Major Court Win)
By popular (and @AliVelshi) demand, here is the thesis portion of last night's Rachel Maddow A block: Why does Trump keep talking like a fascist? Because it works. pic.twitter.com/r6IZ5HZH9m
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) December 19, 2023
She also highlighted the importance of learning from history to prevent such tactics from gaining traction.
“Why is it that even after everybody pointed out that these were Hitler-esque, Mussolini-esque statements, he kept doing them? These are things he has tried out in the last few weeks, he is now repeating them, putting them in writing, making them part of his regular speeches,” Maddow said.
“Why is he doing that? Because these things are getting a good response… not just the outrage of his critics, which he likes, but the pleasure and support of the people who like him the most,” she said.
“Even on his pledge to build giant camps to hold millions of people, Iowa Republican voters say, as of this weekend, those statements from Trump make them more likely to vote for him, not less!”
“This stuff works. There’s a reason Hitler and Mussolini said this stuff then.”
“It’s not just a bad and dangerous thing he’s doing that you can stop him from doing by pointing out that it’s bad and dangerous.”
“This kind of rhetoric, trying to turn Americans not just against each other, but to the idea that some people among us are so dangerous that they must be exterminated, that some threats to us justify terminating the Constitution, that justify being a dictator, if only for a day, this is the sort of thing that has a political point.”
“It is designed to make you believe that a democratic system with checks and balances, and the constraint of the rule of law, and elections where people are voted out sometimes, and divided power within government, those things are not up to stopping these terrible evils that threaten us, the terrible threat that some people among us pose to the rest of us,” she added.
“This stuff is tactically efficient. It is designed to make us think that we need a strong man. We need a tough man. We don’t need a legal system in all its constraints. We don’t need a court system. We don’t really need a political process. We don’t need politicians. We don’t need Congress. We need strength, will, action, revenge, broken rules, maybe even violence.”
“These statements are not just supposed to shock you, they’re supposed to work on you, to make you believe we need something new and extreme to deal with our terrible problems, if only for a little while, maybe just a temporary dictatorship. And these tactics have a terrible history of working really well in other countries and yes, here, in our past.”
“Once you realize it is a political tactic, how do you stop it from working? If it has worked well in the past, what have we learned from the past about how to stop it from working so well again? It’s not rocket science, but it does take work.”
“One thing that needs to be done is to refuse personally, individually, all of us, to play any part in any politics that depends on you thinking of your political opponents as monsters. To refuse to participate in any politics that depends on any group in society to be seen as a menace, or needs to be rooted out.”
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