Trump's Authoritarian Rhetoric Has Become His White House Agenda

Words reminiscent of Hitler and Mussolini are backed by a detailed policy agenda of retribution and deportation.

Donald Trump speaking in Las Vegas on October 28, 2023. (Credit: Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons 2.0)

In the past few months, Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric has escalated to the point of drawing comparisons to Hitler and Mussolini. All of them referred to their enemies as not human and used the language of racial supremacy. In a September interview with the right-wing outlet The National Pulse, Trump was asked about immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border. Here is how he responded:

Nobody has any idea where these people are coming from, and we know they come from prisons. We know they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. We know they’re terrorists. Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. It’s poisoning the blood of our country. It’s so bad, and people are coming in with disease. People are coming in with every possible thing that you could have.

Hitler also repeatedly referred to "blood poisoning" in Mein Kampf. On Nov. 11, Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, gave a Veterans Day speech in Claremont, N.H. Towards the end of the nearly two-hour speech, he said this:

We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible -- they'll do anything -- whether legally or illegally to destroy America and to destroy the American dream. The real threat is not from the radical right. The real threat is from the radical left, and it's growing every day, every single day. The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.

Hitler, Mussolini, and genocidal leaders in Rwanda and Serbia also referred to their enemies as vermin. But, the contexts are very different. The present concern is not about genocide -- Trump's authoritarian rhetoric directly relates to his plans for a second term as president.