Trump Faces Controversy Over Election Video Using the Term 'Nazi'

Former U.S. President Donald Trump came under scrutiny for using the term ‘reich,’ which evokes Nazi Germany’s ‘Third Reich,’ in an election campaign video.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to the New York Times (NYT) and others on the 21st (local time), Trump posted a 30-second video on the social networking service Truth Social the previous afternoon under the theme, "What will happen if Donald Trump wins? What is next for Americans?"

The video, which begins with a fictional newspaper article titled "Trump Wins," included several articles styled like those from the early 1900s. These fictional articles contained content such as the economy booming after his victory, a significant increase in industrial competitiveness due to the birth of a "unified reich," and plans to deport 15 million immigrants during his second term in office.

The controversial part was the subtitle expressing "unified reich" as "unified reich." While ‘reich’ is a German word meaning empire, it is commonly associated with Nazi Germany’s Third Reich. Despite there being other words with the same meaning, the term used by the Nazis was deliberately chosen. The NYT pointed out, "The video repeated the mention of the establishment of a unified reich three times," adding, "It appears to recycle text from World War I reports. The subtitles list the start and end dates of World War I."

The Biden campaign immediately criticized Trump for mimicking Nazi Germany. James Singer, a spokesperson, said, “He is clearly stating his intention to rule like a dictator over a ‘unified reich’ if he regains power.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also stated at a briefing that day, “It is hateful, disgusting, and shameful for anyone to promote content associated with Nazi Germany under Hitler’s rule.”

The Trump presidential campaign issued a statement saying, "This video was not created by the campaign," explaining, "An employee posted the video created by an arbitrary online account while Trump was in court." They also said, "The employee did not see the problematic word," and countered, "The real extremist is Joe Biden." However, local media reported that the video was posted just before Trump returned to court after finishing lunch in New York the previous day. The NYT noted that the video was not deleted even after the controversy and that the Trump campaign did not respond to questions about why it was not removed.

Earlier, Trump faced criticism for comparing immigrants to pests while discussing a tough stance on illegal immigration late last year, a comparison similar to the Nazi regime’s policies aimed at the extermination of Jews.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign announced legal action after the film "The Apprentice," depicting Trump’s younger years, was screened at the Cannes International Film Festival that day. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, claimed the film was "a fictional work sensationalizing lies long proven false" and "malicious defamation." The film, which covers Trump’s efforts to become a real estate mogul in New York during the 1970s and 1980s, includes scenes of forced sexual relations with his wife, liposuction procedures for appearance management, and attempts to treat hair loss. The production team is pushing for a U.S. release before the November presidential election but has yet to find a U.S. distributor.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.