No one does nationalism better than the United States. While most countries wave a flag or two, the current presidency takes American pride to the extreme. The most recent act of nationalism from the White House is one of the most bizarre. Many are unsettled by it, and some are even saying it’s a callback to World War II. As music sounded out across Washington, D.C., it began to feel like history was repeating.
Before President Trump’s most recent trip to Mar-a-Lago, he chose an odd soundtrack to play from the White House loudspeakers. The entire afternoon before his trip was filled with the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, the latter of which was sung by the January 9th convicts. While the words were sung through the streets of D.C., many who heard them found it eerie, and for some, scarily reminiscent.
“As a Jew, it makes me think about the German people in the 1930s,” one Reddit user said. “As much as we despise what the US government is currently doing to people across our country, we still feel powerless to stop it, and fear the repercussions of getting too involved.” To this, another user replied, “Right there with you. The parallels to Nazi Germany are impossible to ignore if you’re paying attention. It’s truly chilling.”
Most people watching the recorded audio agreed with the sentiment. When the Nazis came into power, many of their tactics included extreme nationalism, using methods such as this. While users continued to comment on Trump’s manipulative and disturbing behavior, some commented on how the brainwashing had already begun.
“It’s like the intro to the movie that shows how the United States became the fourth Reich,” one user said. One agreed, saying, “It’s like watching the opening to that Civil War movie. Like it shows cuts of this with a scrawl of how the United States collapsed into insurrection groups and defected, and then fast cuts of riots and military bashing people in the streets. Oh, wait, that’s happening right now.”
