"If Trump stood under a swastika flag at one of his rallies, would he lose support?"

[Cyrano]

My friend was being serious when she asked me this question this morning. And I told her she was being ridiculous. My take on it was that people would flee from him as they would from a pack of rabid dogs.

Thinking about it later, I asked other friends/acquaintances the same question. Some laughed and some agreed that it was ridiculous. But one said, "He was wearing a swastika when he rode down that golden escalator. The problem is that no one noticed it." In retrospect, I understand the subtlety and accuracy of this observation.

German National Socialism, (Nazism), turned the swastika into, what was recognized world wide, as a symbol of pure evil. Yet, is it in some insane way, becoming acceptable here in America?

But I have more questions. How degraded have MAGAs and other members of the Republican Party become? Would some/most/all of them accept, (or pretend to accept), "Dear Leader" showing up on a podium beneath a flag bearing a swastika?

I'm having second thoughts about my friend's question, and my initial reaction that she was being ridiculous.

Swastika or not, we know that Trump, his cult, and the Republican Party, now stand for all-out American fascism. (Their symbols have been Confederate flags, Trump flags, and an occasional lunatic waving a flag with a swastika somewhere in the background.)

So let me put this question to DUers. What do you think would happen if Trump actually showed up at one of his insane rallies, standing in front of a flag displaying a swastika? Would people find it repulsive? Would some, finally walk away from his cult. Would any members of the Republican Party, finally, at long last, call him and the Party out for what they are? I honestly don't know.

[chowder66]

1. He killed 100's of thousands with his sickening covid stance.

He's mocked disabled people, he is accused of rape, he loves dictators, he's bragged about protecting Saudi Prince MBS. He supports white nationalists which is the same as standing under the Nazi flag.

If none of those are enough to turn people off then many will still support the POS.

[Cyrano]

11. Agreed. This is off topic, but concerning Covid, he's a mass murderer.

[MontanaMama]

2. No. IMO, he would not.

A cult is a cult is a cult is a cult. He leads a cult of personality, ignorance and hate. I believe it cement his support in ways that even WE would find shocking.

[FoxNewsSucks]

3. No.

Exhibit A



Exhibit B



Exhibit C




I rest my case. They're Nazis, fascists and racists. He enabled them to flaunt it.

[Cyrano]

7. Yeah, but the Orange Beast isn't there which give him "plausible deniablity.'

By the way, that pic with the girl giving a Nazi salute alongside the picture of Trump as Jesus is priceless. Every Dem running for office should make use of it.

[Celerity]

21. One small issue. Exhibit B top right pic's from a prank video from Joey Salads, it's not a real nazi

Joey Salads is a RW asshole, but is not a nazi.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Why Does That Flag At The Bottom...

...have a communist symbol on it.
I thought they hated communists.

[pwb]

4. I don't really care what that sort does or thinks about anything.

Some buses might leave early.

[Blaukraut]

5. On the contrary. They'd love him even more.

Pretty much because it would be his official permission for them to openly use the symbol they've been dying to use for a long time but were too embarrassed to-up until now.

[skylucy]

6. He would not lose any support from his cult members.

He could wear a swastika AND shoot someone in cold blood and they would still support him.

[Beachnutt]

8. No

They would salute him.

[kentuck]

9. No, because his supporters would say he was "owning the libs"...

...and just making them angry. They would laugh and joke about it.

[Cyrano]

14. kentuck, I fear you're right

At this very moment, we're depending on, and hoping for, a blue wave.

It must happen if democracy is to survive.

But I do fear for the future. Our "rules," system of government, and even our Constitution, is constructed to give a minority the power to rule us all. And if that minority is malicious, America, our rights, our freedoms, our very concept of a decent society, is over.

Let me say this, (as I've said so often before). We are sooo, fucked.

Nonetheless, surrendering to Neanderthals must be at the top of our list of things that can't be allowed to happen.

[RKP5637]

10. It depends on what he thinks he can get out of it. He's a narcissistic sociopath, he does

not give a damn about anyone or anything ... only what benefits him.

[spanone]

12. Maybe it could be on stage and he could go over and hug it...

that would really 'own the libs' and rile up his magats

[Cyrano]

19. IMO, any WWII veteran would

crawl from his/her deathbed, and give their last breath of life, in an attempt to destroy him.

[Midnight Writer]

13. I've been fooled too many times thinking "This time he's gone too far".

I honestly think his people can justify any atrocity in the name of Trump.

I remember him bragging about having sex with the wives of his employees. "That's the last nail in his coffin", I thought. That story sank beneath the waves like a rock. Didn't leave a ripple.

My only explanation is that these folks like getting their noses rubbed in humiliating contempt. He hates everyone, doesn't hide it, and MAGAs adore him for it.

They knew he was a snake when they voted for him.

[Mr.Bill]

15. If Trump stood under a swastika flag,

republicans in congress would introduce a bill to make it the United States flag.

I'm not kidding.

[JohnSJ]

16. for 5 hours McCarthy and Graham would be outraged, then on the 6th hour they would be praising him

[Paladin]

17. No. (nt)

[IcyPeas]

18. Hitler did some good things. trump said.... allegedly

The Guardian reports that a new book out next week recounts an exchange Trump allegedly had in Europe with his second chief of staff, John Kelly, wherein the president of the United States defended Hitler and argued the guy shouldn’t be judged by that one genocide:

On a visit to Europe to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war, Donald Trump insisted to his then chief of staff, John Kelly: “Well, Hitler did a lot of good things.” The remark from the former U.S. president on the 2018 trip, which reportedly “stunned” Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, is reported in a new book by Michael Bender of The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/07/donald-trump-hitler-good-things

[Cyrano]

24. Yep. Hitler made the trains run on time

And, oh yeah. He's responsible for killing six million Jews, and most of the other forty million human beings who died during WWII.

Does Trump envy him? Is he jealous? Does he want to become #1 in murdering more people than anyone else in the world ever did?

Who the fuck knows? It's virtually impossible to know what goes on in the mind of a world-class madman. But one thing I'm certain of. Trump's isolation from humanity, however it comes about, would be a great benefit to life on Planet Earth.

[Hekate]

26. That was Mussolini, where historically Italy had a hard time with engineering. Germans, otoh...

…were known as excellent engineers. So Mussolini did the impossible in Italy by making the trains run on time.

(Anyway, old joke about owning a FIAT car: Fix It Again, Tony. )

[doc03]

20. No they would claim it was photoshopped. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

22. No

[Johnny2X2X]

23. Nope

He wouldn’t lose a single vote. He would just say “only woke liberals care.”

[intheflow]

25. He'd lose so little support at this point.

Might even get bigger crowds again. I think he’ll have his rabid following beyond death at this point. They’ll feel emboldened by his. I’ve studied propaganda and have been watching the rise of American fascism for decades. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing they are GREATLY outnumbered. The extreme right is consistently about 33% of the population. And he’s already lost much of the party, the Lincoln Project wing and such.

[Hekate]

27. No. "What, that flag? Just an enthusiastic fan. Some very good people in the Klan, um, the Nazis"

[SKKY]

28. I don't know, but I have had the feeling for a while now that...

...either Trump, Marge, Boebert, Gohmert, etc are about 2 seconds away from dropping an "N" bomb, or having a tape released of them dropping "N" bombs.

[Lettuce Be]

29. He could put a swastika on his MAGA hat -- no one would care and they go buy more hats

[Cyrano]

30. What a horrible thought. And I fear that you may be right

The majority of people should have "gotten it" during slavery.

The majority of people should have "gotten it" during Jim Crow.

The majority should have "gotten it" during the Reagan and Trump years. (Yes, the Reagan years. during which an amiable imbecile was a tool for those whose goal was to destroy democracy.)

This ain't the country I believed it was during muck of my life. I've always known there were racists, bigots, no nothings, haters, and many who wanted all the "THEMS," dead or gone. But for far too much of my life, I just didn't "get it."

I've "gotten it" for a long time now. But I just don't know how to put a stop the racism, bigotry, ignorance, and the just plain know-nothingness of far, far too many of our fellow citizens. How in the world do you get through to people who will allow their hatreds to overcome their self-interest and well being? I really don't understand these people. But I do know that they're hell bent on destroying us while being clueless to the fact that they are also destroying themselves.