In recent remarks, Donald Trump has been likened to historical figures such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini due to his use of the term “vermin” to describe his political adversaries. This choice of language echoes the tactics employed by dictators in the 1920s and 1930s, who dehumanized their enemies by comparing them to rodents to garner support for state persecution.
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Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” observes that dehumanizing groups is a common authoritarian strategy aimed at encouraging followers to collaborate with or tolerate state-sponsored persecution. She notes that Trump’s use of the term “vermin” falls into this tradition.
In a Truth Social post commemorating Veterans Day, Trump reiterated his commitment to rooting out groups he labeled as “Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs” within the country, employing the controversial term. The identical language was utilized in a subsequent speech given in New Hampshire.
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign responded, highlighting the autocratic language similarities between Trump, Hitler, and Mussolini. Aamer Moussa of the Biden campaign emphasized that Trump’s divisive language aligns with ideas that the U.S. veterans in their efforts to defeat dictators like Hitler and Mussolini.
The White House joined the criticism, with spokesperson Andrew Bates noting that such language is unrecognizable to the country’s founders but sadly familiar to veterans who fought against similar ideologies in the 1940s.
The Trump campaign dismissed the criticism, attributing it to opponents fearing an election loss. They characterized those raising concerns as suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and predicted their dismay when Trump returns to the White House. The Republican response was mixed, with Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, declining to comment on campaign messaging. Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, critical of McDaniel’s silence, accused her of collaboration by not condemning the use of language reminiscent of Nazi propaganda. Cheney warned that history would judge those appeasing Trump as collaborating with a dangerous figure.