“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” The politician who said this knew how to lie and how to exploit partisan divides. Conservatives boosted him to power, rather than make common cause against him with their left-wing enemies. They thought they could control him. Once he commanded the state, Adolf Hitler crushed them too.
Like Germany in the 1930s, we are living in an age of deep partisan divides and yuge lies (about Muslims and immigrants, rather than Jews). Thoughtful Republicans know that Trump is unfit to be commander in chief, and many have condemned his racism. But they need to face the reality that the nation is imperiled. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell express outrage at Trump’s racism, but still say they will vote for him.
Like German conservatives in 1933, they think they can control him. No one controls him. His narcissistic explosions suggest he cannot even control himself.
Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler. But Hitler wasn’t Hitler either – until he had the power of the state at his command.
In 2002, French Socialists held their noses and voted for the conservative Chirac to defeat the neo-fascists. American Republicans must do the same. It is what patriots do when democracy is threatened.
If Trump is defeated, there will be another election in four years, and a more decent Republican candidate. Who knows what will happen if he wins.
MICHAEL CONTARINO
Nottingham
(The writer is professor emeritus of Politics and Society at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester.)