What may have seemed to be an innocent gesture of Donald Trump’s supporters during last Saturday’s political rally in Orlando, Florida became an alarming reminder of the probable rise of fascism in the United States. Trump asked his supporters to raise their right hands as a symbol of their pledge to vote for him.
The image of the supporters with their right hands raised was reminiscent of the Nazi salute that Hitler demanded from his supporters. Although technically the crowd’s gesture was not a salute, it was an affirmation of their personal pledge to Trump, which has parallels to the personal devotions of Nazis to Hitler as the Fuhrer or leader of Germany.
Midway into his speech, Trump asked the crowd to raise their right hands. This was documented on a video that became viral on social media, as trending news about the rally was shared.
“I’ve never done this before. Can I have a pledge, a swearing. Raise your right hand. I do solemnly swear that I, no matter how I feel, no matter what the conditions, if there’s hurricanes or whatever. That’s good enough.
“Will vote on or before the 12th for Donald J. Trump for President. Thank you. Now I know.”
He then half-jokingly reminded the crowd about the seriousness of the pledge.
“Don’t forget you all raised your hands, you swore. Bad things happen if you don’t live up to what you just did.”
The parallelism of Trump’s potential rise to power with Hitler’s was only further emphasized by the recent rally. Trump is a demagogue who uses fear and xenophobic tactics to win support from the economically disenfranchised masses.
Just as Hitler did in his political speeches, Trump is blaming immigrants and racial minorities for all the problems that his supporters are experiencing. He is sounding more like a white supremacist as he is pitting white Americans against racial minorities whom he has branded as mostly criminals and job thieves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=352mUP5x-DU
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
