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Donald Trump ‘Thank You’ Tour Rallies First Of Their Kind Since Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Rallies [Opinion]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 19:38 PST, Dec 17, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump has made several stops on his “Thank You” tour since he clinched his November 8 victory, and at least one researcher says that nothing of this kind has happened since Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Rallies. As Groopspeak News reports, the first person to make this disturbing connection between the Nuremberg Rallies and the Donald Trump tour was Kurt Eichenwald, an investigative reporter from Newsweek.

Eichenwald announced his stunning historical find on Twitter after realizing that Americans (and citizens of the world) could be witnessing something historic and bizarre in Donald Trump’s post-victory behavior.

According to Groopspeak News, the investigative journalist was looking into how uncommon events like Donald Trump’s “Thank You” tour stops actually are. Turns out, they are incredibly uncommon in the western world. While some Americans may have been scratching their heads and wondering if they had ever seen a president-elect orchestrated non-campaign “victory rallies,” few likely realized how long it had been since such a thing had taken place in America or the western world.

Or the historical significance of the last post-election “Thank You” tour to be undertaken by an upstart politician.

The Nuremberg Rallies started as a victory event thrown by Adolf Hitler in honor of Adolf Hitler after he reached the pinnacle of his power in 1933. However, while Donald Trump has only been on his “Thank You” tour for a few days of a single year, the Nuremberg Rallies would become a yearly “celebration” in Nazi Germany. Today, the Nuremberg Rallies are looked back on as an iconic representation of “the power of the [Nazi] regime’s propaganda machine.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ceLnMT0rps

While Donald Trump is currently engaged in a “Thank You” tour that is eerily reminiscent of Hitler’s Nuremberg Rallies, and is even the first such event of its kind since said Rallies, that’s not to say that “Trump is Hitler,” or even that “Trump is like Hitler.” However, as history has a habit of repeating itself, it is always wise to be aware of troubling patterns (such as copycat rallies or perhaps being voted into the presidency on the 78th anniversary of Kristallnacht) when they arise.

After all, the “president-elect” period is a very busy one for most incoming presidents. There’s a lot to do, including the very important tasks of building a cabinet or perhaps attending daily intelligence briefings in order to get the lay of the land before diving into the position of being the most powerful leader on the planet. If soon-to-be presidents want to address their adoring (or even their not-so-adoring) public, the standard practice is to hold a press conference.

As NPR reports, Donald Trump hasn’t had a press conference in 143 days. They have even created a handy and informative widget so that the American voters can see exactly how long it’s been since they were collectively addressed by the president-elect. The widget also indicates how many tweets Donald Trump has sent out in that same time-frame. As of the publication of this article, Donald Trump has tweeted his communication with the American public (and the rest of the world) 1,473 times. This is a huge break in tradition, and according to NPR, it is far from the expected way for a president-elect to communicate with “his” people.

“The public expects that a president isn’t just going to announce something [but] that he’s going to explain it and be able to answer questions about it.”

Oh, and as for those intelligence briefings, Donald Trump hasn’t been attending them daily either. As The Independent reports, Donald Trump has only been hitting about one intelligence briefing a week. Unlike the days of the Nuremberg Rallies, Donald Trump has cable news shows to “get the word out.” He took to Fox News Sunday to explain why he hasn’t been attending.

“First of all, these are very good people that are giving me the briefings. And I say, ‘If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on one minute’s notice. I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years — but eight years. I don’t need that.”

He also bashed the intelligence gathering prowess of the U.S. intelligence community (a community that has recently begun to insist that the president-elect got some help from Russia when he won the White House, something Donald Trump vehemently denies happened) on Twitter.

While Donald Trump has spent his post-election days patting himself on the back with his Nuremberg-esque “Thank You” tour, he has also been saying some poignant and disturbing things. Especially when it comes to his supporters’ behavior, and particularly when you consider that nothing in the manner of the “Thank You” tour has happened since the Nuremberg Rallies.

During a Friday night tour stop in Florida, Trump accused his own supporters of being “violent” during his 2016 presidential campaign, reports CNN. And far from sounding chastising or angry at the alleged “violent” behavior of the people who propelled him to power, Donald Trump seemed to find the behavior funny or to be a source of pride. Listen to the words he spoke at one of his Florida rallies while flanked by Christmas decor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSrpbZLtPNw

“You people were vicious, violent, screaming, ‘Where’s the wall? We want the wall!’ Screaming, ‘Prison! Prison! Lock her up!’ I mean you are going crazy. I mean, you were nasty and mean and vicious and you wanted to win, right?” Trump said Friday. “But now, you’re mellow and you’re cool and you’re not nearly as vicious or violent, right? You’re basking in the glory of victory.”

Over the course of his campaign, Trump denied that his rallies were places of violence, despite the fact that numerous Trump supporters were arrested at campaign events for allegedly committing violent acts.

What do you think, America and the world? Are you worried that Trump called his supporters “violent” in Florida? Is appropriate for a president-elect to pass on potentially critical daily intelligence briefings? Is it “presidential” to pass on press conferences and communicate via Twitter instead? Do you think that the fact that Donald Trump’s “Thank You” tour is the first political, non-campaign victory event of its kind since the Nuremberg Rallies is frightening, or mere coincidence?

[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

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