Trump deletes ‘unified Reich’ post after backlash; Biden slams former prez for using ‘Hitler’s language’

Former US president Donald Trump deleted a video that he posted on his social media platform Truth Social, which included a reference to a “unified Reich”. This was after his successor and rival in the upcoming election Joe Biden, the White House, and others criticised the language which is often associated with the Nazi regime.

About the post

The 30-second video, posted on Monday (May 20) afternoon was no longer available on the website. A report by Reuters citing a person familiar with the matter confirmed the post had been removed from the site.

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The clip showed a series of fictitious news stories painting a picture of American prosperity. “What happens after Donald Trump wins? What’s next for America?” the voiceover in the clip asks.

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The video also features hypothetical newspaper headlines about a booming economy and a crackdown on illegal immigration.

The text below the larger headline reads: “Industrial Strength Significantly Increased Driven By The Creation of A Unified Reich.”

While there was no direct reference made to Nazis in the clip, the word “Reich” is typically used to refer to the “Third Reich,” to describe the Nazi regime in Germany.

The text in the video, as per Reuters, may have been picked up from a Wikipedia page about World War I which mentions the developments long before Hitler’s rule.

“German industrial strength and production had significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich,” the Wikipedia page reads.

Trump’s campaign responds

Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, said that the video was created by some “random account online” and shared by a staffer who did not notice the word “Reich” before reposting it.

She also said that Trump, who is on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment, was in court at the time.

On Tuesday, the former president did not respond to questions about the video shouted by a reporter as he headed into court.

Trump has repeatedly come under fire for inflammatory remarks on the campaign trail which included the use of rhetoric that carries clear echoes of Nazi ideology like calling his political opponents “vermin” and saying undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.”

‘Hitler’s language’

Biden, on Tuesday, criticised Trump for reposting the video and said, “This is Hitler’s language, not America’s.”

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It is “abhorrent, sickening and disgraceful for anyone to promote content associated with Germany's Nazi government under Adolf Hitler,” said the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, on Tuesday.

The US Vice President Kamala Harris criticised the post during a speech to union members in Philadelphia and said, “This kind of rhetoric is unsurprising coming from the former president, and it is appalling.”

Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer criticised the use of the word associated with the Nazi regime.

“America, stop scrolling and pay attention. Donald Trump is not playing games; he is telling America exactly what he intends to do if he regains power: rule as a dictator over a ‘unified Reich’,” Singer said.

He also accused Trump of “parroting” Hitler’s manifesto, Mein Kampf.

(With inputs from agencies)