Disclaimer: Be careful, this text contains traces of Nazi and Hitler comparisons.
Yes, it’s true that financial gurus sometimes talk about a “bloodbath” after a particularly bad day in the stock market. This term sometimes also serves as a metaphor for very bloodless events. So what is the cry from the mainstream media when Donald Trump also warned of a “bloodbath” at one of his rallies last weekend if he is not elected? Finally, he talked about the automotive industry. Or not?
Not quite, says Timothy Snyder. The historian who teaches at Yale University is a specialist in massacres, and very real ones at that. In his best-known work, ‘Bloodlands’, he describes the horrific rampage of Hitler and Stalin in Poland, Ukraine and Belarus; and in his book ‘On Tyranny’ he warns of a new totalitarianism.
Snyder puts Trump’s Ohio speech into context. He speaks of a ‘total work of art’ and does not mean a product with a high artistic value, but rather an event with a high fascist content.
Trump began his speech with a prison choir of convicted Capitol stormers singing the U.S. national anthem. In between, the ex-president read parts of the constitution. He then praised the criminals as “patriots,” described them as “hostages” and promised to pardon them on the first day of his inauguration.
In other words, Trump turned violent criminals and subversives into heroic martyrs in the service of the homeland. “Thank you [für den Applaus für die Chaoten]he shouted to his fans. ‘You can sympathize with the hostages, and that’s what they are, hostages. They are being treated terribly and extremely unfairly and we all know it.”
Snyder compares this stylization of convicted criminals into heroes to a Nazi icon, Horst Wessel. The SA man was shot by communists in 1930. Hitler’s chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels then made him a German martyr and had the infamous Horst Wessel song composed, which became the Nazi anthem.
Trump’s “massacre” statements should be seen in this context, namely: “How Trump designed the introduction to his speech,” Snyder said. “The politics, the mendacity of his attempted coup in 2021 and the history of fascism in general. All this suggests that when Trump talks about a massacre, he means a real massacre.
One thing cannot be denied to Trump: he repeatedly manages to push the boundaries of totalitarian rhetoric so far that an emergency exit remains for him. In his legendary speech before the storming of the Capitol, he smuggled in the adverb “peaceful” before “protest” and then washed his hands of the violence.
He also mentioned the auto industry at the Ohio meeting before speaking about the massacre. But we shouldn’t be blinded by this, Snyder warns. Because: “Trump talked about a massacre in front of people who appreciate a massacre. For people who sing along with convicted subversives. And Trump is doing all this in the style of the fascists, talking a big lie and making martyrs of criminals.
Trump’s increasingly open and frequent references to Hitler and Mussolini are all the more dangerous because the ex-president is in dire financial trouble. It was recently announced that he cannot pay the bail of more than 464 million dollars that a judge in New York imposed on him for accounting manipulation.
Although he spent “countless hours negotiating with some of the world’s largest insurance companies,” the ex-president was unable to raise the money for bail, his lawyers said. Earlier, with great effort and the help of insurance company Chubb, Trump had managed to raise the $93 million down payment for the fines in the civil lawsuit against journalist E. Jean Carroll.
Trump must be able to pay the down payment by Monday, otherwise he will, in the worst case, face the forced liquidation of part of his real estate empire. He would therefore be forced to disclose the ownership and debts of the Trump Organization. This could end in public humiliation, because there is a legitimate suspicion that the ex-president is not nearly as rich as he has repeatedly claimed.
In short: Trump is broke and must fear being exposed as a corporate failure. That’s why he goes crazy again. On Tuesday night, he spent one hate message after another on his Truth Social platform, especially against Attorney General Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron and the Biden administration in general. He may have to sell his properties at junk prices, the ex-president complained, adding in capital letters: “WITCH HUNT. ELECTION INFERENCES!”
It does not look like Trump will be able to solve his financial problems in the short term. His legal fees are astronomical; last year alone he had to spend about $50 million. Due to the four ongoing criminal cases, there will probably be even more this year.
At the same time, Trump’s main source of donations appears to be drying up. The small donors who have repeatedly transferred €5, €10 or €20 in recent years no longer want or are able to do so. The Financial Times recently reported that the number of small donors had fallen dramatically.
Trump’s hopes are therefore pinned on the billionaires. Next month he plans to hold a dinner for his super-rich followers. Expected figures include hedge fund manager John Paulson, real estate magnate Robert Bigelow and billionaire heiress Rebekah Mercer. They all have to dig deep into their pockets. A seat at Trump’s table costs $814,000, and for $250,000 you can take a selfie with him.
But even super-rich diners can’t ease Trump’s financial problems. This makes the president a threat to national security, as the TikTok case shows. Trump has made a spectacular turnaround. Because it is Chinese-owned, he once wanted to ban the popular social platform as president. Now he is advising representatives and senators not to support such legislation. Reason for the change of heart: Trump recently dined with Jeff Yass, a billionaire and major Tik Tok investor.
Even his former chief strategist Steve Bannon is asking himself the anxious question of whether Trump was bribed. The even more worrying question of whether Trump could become dependent on foreign clients is currently omnipresent in Washington. What if the Saudis save Trump? Or even the Russians?
The fact that Trump seems to want to reactivate his former campaign manager Paul Manafort fuels these fears. Manafort was not only convicted of fraud and therefore served time in prison until he was pardoned by the ex-president. It was also proven that he had excellent contacts with the Russian secret service and oligarchs close to the Kremlin.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
