Trump’s liberal critics have compared him to Hitler since before the election, but a former Bush Sr. aide took a step further off a rhetorical cliff, tweeting several ways the Nazi leader compares favorably to Trump.
Former Bush official Bruce Bartlett tweeted several ways in which Trump compares unfavorably to Adolph (sic) Hitler – military service, marital fidelity, even penning one’s own iconic book (at least Mein Kampf never made it to #1 on the NY Times bestseller list). Most importantly, Hitler hated the Russians – today’s ultimate get-out-of-history’s-jail-free card.
Also. Hitler hated the Ruskies
— Christopher D. White (@ZanderKelly30) October 23, 2018
Bartlett’s tweet is deliberately outrageous, but it does expose the rhetorical fallout from constantly comparing the US president to Hitler. After all, where do you go from Hitler? Two Hitlers?
After helping draft the Reagan tax cuts, Bartlett served as a senior policy analyst and later a Treasury Department official under George Bush Sr. He was an outspoken critic of George W., however, criticizing the younger Bush’s economic policies in his book Impostor in 2006 and later blaming the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession on the Shrub.
With the younger Bush safely out of politics (and pursuing his artistic talents), Bartlett has turned his sights on Trump, cashing in on the “fake news” hysteria with a book called Truth Matters that purports to teach the reader how to “ensure truth is not a permanent casualty.” “Reading critically, judging sources, using fact-checking sites, avoiding confirmation bias, identifying trustworthy experts” are all skills only Bartlett can teach, according to this book.
Bush has experienced a reputational renaissance lately among liberals who think two bloody wars and 1.5 million bankruptcies are more forgivable crimes than Trump’s immigration fearmongering and pandering to blue-collar white voters. Michelle Obama’s recent quip about George W. being her “partner in crime” also helped warm their hearts.
Trump has been compared to Hitler so often that even his supporters joke about it, and the comparison long ago lost the power to shock. Pundits who jumped to compare The Donald to Der Fuhrer may not have realized they were exhausting their rhetorical ammunition at one go – and comments like Bartlett’s are now what it takes to squeeze some more punch out of the parallel.
There are a few points left they can use against Trump. Hitler was a vegetarian, right? Doesn’t Trump like a big, juicy steak?
"Sure, he orchestrated one of the largest genocides in human history, but at least he didn't go so low as to hire someone to write his book for him" – Bruce Bartlett
— Justin Walton (@JustinRWalton) October 23, 2018
