Like most things in his life (his attempt to look wealthy for example) Trump is a caricature that reminds folks of Hitler. The raucous rallies with sycophantic fans, the hyperbole, and the in-your-face approach to the media, combined with racist overtones hint at a dictator in waiting. Fortunately the similarities end at the shallow end of the pool. Here are some important things to keep in mind.
Hitler Co-opted a Failed State
Weimar Germany existed at a time when communism was a powerful force in Europe. Far from being the "default government system", democracy seemed like an experiment with a real downside. The far right wing was a reaction to communist forces and the uncertainty of democracy. The German hard-right wingers were in favor of strong executive power. Many preferred a return to the monarchy. They saw the rising tide of communism using democracy to eventually take over the state. By the late 20s in Germany, a center right coalition insured that the cabinet and president (Hindenburg) ruled the country through emergency powers with little input from the Reichstag (parliament). The military served as stamp of legitimacy on this arrangement. It was a tenuous structure with a small cadre of true players and it teetered and tottered and threatened to collapse annually.By 1933 (Hitler finally becomes Chancellor) the Republic had suffered 2 attempted coups in the decade plus since WWI. Hitler himself was central in one of the coups in 1923. He served little more than a year as the leader of a plot to overthrow the republic. Let that sink in. The republic was so weak and unpopular that the government and citizens were willing to give coup plotters an "E" for effort and a slap on the wrist as punishment for failure. That's how very weak Weimar was as a government system.
The US on the other hand, has much less structural weakness. Far from having true power concentrated in a few hands, power in the US is diffused through a dizzying array of states, branches, and bureaucracies. There is no conceivable path to "take over" the US government without a military coup. That seems the least likely of all the scenarios to this writer. Hitler exploited structural weakness to become dictator of Germany. No such weakness in US government is evident.
Hitler had Organized Para-Military Forces
The SA (Sturmabteilung or Storm Detachment aka the Brown Shirts) were three million strong at the beginning of 1933. They had commanders, hierarchy and rank and file "soldiers". They were armed and functioned as military units. They were frequently used as a force to put pressure on local and state government. In essence, they were Hitler's private police force and he used them effectively to implement his will. The SA served as pending threat of civil war - a sword of Damocles - insuring the NAZI party received accommodation.Trump forces on the fringe are not organized, nor does Trump have any compulsion to control them. He seems to prefer to ignore them altogether. They don't seem to interest him. In spite of press hyperbole, a DC rally in a Washington hotel where Richard Spencer leads seig heil is not the same as men marching in rank through Jewish sectors of a city and smashing windows, or kidnapping, torturing and killing key community members systematically. One is play-acting, the other is deadly serious. One wonders why the press covered the Spencer side show at all.
Hitler's WAS an Ideologue, Trump is not
Trump has a goal of favoring himself within his office. Hitler had a complex (albeit insane) world view that he preached and acted on constantly. Both were opportunists, but Hitler had folks following his ideology. That ideology included overt acts of violence, war and conquest, the creation by force of an "ethnic German community", and the Führerprinzip - a particularly insidious ideology with dire consequences for Europe and the Jews.In spite of Trumps flaws (and they are legion) he has little if any of these overriding drives. Hitler's world had him seated on an imperial throne ruling the Aryan west with an iron hand and subjugating all people to his will. Trump's vision has him living out his days in Trump Tower fabulously wealthy and finally able to stick his finger in the eye of the fancy pants NY debutantes who have laughed at him all his life. If he has a vision for America it's provincial and it stops at economics.
Conclusion
Historians hate these sort of "It can happen again" comparisons. Yes, there are things about Trump's rise that are troubling and alarm bells should be ringing. Yes we should work to preserve our institutions and push back against any encroachment - it's a slippery slope. But no, Trump is not Hitler. The US electorate should be saying (again paraphrasing Roy), "I said I didn't have much use for constitutional liberty, I didn't say I didn't know how to use it."
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