Summary
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker compared Donald Trump’s policies to the rise of Nazi Germany, warning against authoritarianism in his State of the State address.
Citing historical parallels, particularly economic grievances fueling extremism, he condemned Trump’s immigration policies. Republicans denounced his remarks as divisive.
He emphasized the speed of democratic collapse, stating, “It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic.”
Pritzker also referenced Skokie’s 1978 neo-Nazi march, urging vigilance against threats to democracy.
I wouldn’t minimize the comparability when there are such blatant examples of Trump utilizing Nazi propaganda like the Big Lie and the demonization of an out-group, like the Nazi’s antisemitic populism, to gain power.
Prior the Reichstag fire, the Nazi’s electoral high point was 37% in 1932 (or 31% of Germans at 82% turnout), compared with Trump at 49.8% last year (or 31.8% of Americans at 64% turnout). The point being that you don’t need a significant buy-in from the people to elevate leaders with dictatorial motives. You simply need a triggering event which they can use to justify their consolidation of power permanently.
Also, if the desire is to avoid authoritarian leadership, I’m not sure military coup is the play. I know the American Armed Forces swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, but it seems that would get real tricky once you’ve overthrown the Commander in Chief, in defiance of the Constitutionally mandated chain of command.