President Donald Trump is getting major pushback for sharing a video promising a "Unified Reich" in a second term on Truth Social, with the Biden campaign accusing him of "echoing Nazi Germany."
A video posted to Trump's Truth Social account featured hypothetical news headlines for if he wins the election in November, including a reference to a “unified Reich.”
The headline appeared among other messages flashing across the screen, such as “Trump wins!!” and “Economy booms!” Some headlines seemed to reference World War I. While the term “Reich” is largely associated with Nazi Germany’s Third Reich, the video appeared to reference the formation of the modern pan-German nation in 1871, unifying smaller states into a single Reich, or empire.
The 30-second video was shared on Monday while Trump was on a lunch break from his ongoing hush money trial.
You can see the video below.
Shortly afterward, the Biden campaign posted screenshots from the video that highlighted the term "Unified Reich" with the caption:
"Trump posts a new ad foreshadowing a second Trump term that says he will create a 'UNIFIED REICH,' echoing Nazi Germany"
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You can see the screenshots below:
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign's press secretary, pushed back against criticisms about language in the video:
“This was not a campaign video, it was created by a random account online and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word, while the President was in court."
But James Singer, a Biden-Harris 2024 campaign spokesperson, quickly shut that down, noting that Trump is signaling precisely what he'll do if he returns to power:
"America, stop scrolling and pay attention. Donald Trump is not playing games; he is telling America exactly what he intends to do if he regains power: rule as a dictator over a 'unified reich.'"
"Parroting 'Mein Kampf' while you warn of a bloodbath if you lose is the type of unhinged behavior you get from a guy who knows that democracy continues to reject his extreme vision of chaos, division, and violence."
Others also sounded the alarm.
Trump has continued to garner criticism for praising authoritarian leaders and repeating anti-immigrant and racist language.
In December, he claimed that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country," echoing fascists like Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, who wrote about "blood poisoning" in his book Mein Kampf.
Trump has ramped up his violent and inflammatory rhetoric in recent months, telling a crowd in November that his political opponents are "vermin" that he must "root out," a declaration that angered people on both sides of the aisle to say nothing of historians who've sounded the alarm about what the 2024 election could signal for the future of American democracy.
Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—among others—have compared Trump to Hitler, saying that if he were to be elected again, all semblance of American democracy would vanish.
Shortly after Trump's remarks about "blood poisoning" went viral, Biden's campaign posted a graphic drawing comparisons between the rhetoric of Trump and Hitler, whose anti-immigrant sentiment and attacks against Jews and other minorities culminated in the Holocaust and the murders of millions of innocent people.
Trump's Truth Social account reportedly finally removed the post Tuesday afternoon.
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