The New York Times on Wednesday published a book review about a male politician who rose to power on “nativist appeals to the masses,” a “scattershot, impulsive style” and a “characteristic fondness for superlatives.”
That man was not Donald Trump, but Adolf Hitler.
Observers noted that Michiko Kakutani’s review of Volker Ullrich’s “Hitler: Ascent 1889-1939” read an awful lot like a profile of the Republican presidential nominee’s “America First” campaign, though she never once mentions Trump’s name.
The @michikokakutani @nytimes review of a Hitler biography is basically a fleshed-out (terrifying) Trump subtweet https://t.co/OkQpny52eP
— Emily Peck (@EmilyRPeck) September 28, 2016
Normally I dislike “X is Hitler” rhetoric. But reread this review with “Trump” instead of “Hitler”. Rather apt. https://t.co/FZGHEyCFee
— Anne E. H. Deschaine (@aehdeschaine) September 28, 2016
Well done, @michikokakutani on the book review that’s actually a subtweet about Trump. https://t.co/I3d94hWS4g
— Tim de Gier (@timdegier) September 28, 2016
Instead, the review catalogues the hallmarks of Hitler’s personality and traces, in terms that ring loud bells to anyone following the 2016 campaign, his rise from a “clown” seen as a “most unlikely pretender to high state office” to the ruthless, authoritarian architect of a world war.
Kakutani runs through bullet points describing Hitler as an “effective orator and actor” who fed off the energy of his audiences, lobbed sharp “put-downs” at hecklers, lied relentlessly and relied on a limited “repertoire of topics.” She writes that Ullrich saw Hitler’s rise not as inevitable, but rather as the result of Germany’s “growing resentment of the elites” and belief that a strong leader “could shake things up.”
According to the review, Ullrich “offers a fascinating Shakespearean parable about how the confluence of circumstance, chance, a ruthless individual and the willful blindness of others can transform a country—and, in Hitler’s case, lead to an unimaginable nightmare for the world.”
Asked for comment, a Times spokeswoman told TPM, “The review speaks for itself.”
I’m sorry, I simply don’t see the resemblance.
http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Trump-rally-030516-800x430.jpg
Sometimes I feel her reviews are cold, distant and impersonal. This one burns, is direct and in-your-face. Thank you!
Poised, as we are on the brink of major changes, the wrong choice now could be tragic for the entire human race.
Yeah but could Adolf do two fat lines and still show up for a debate?
We’re talking grade-A midtown Manhattan coke, not that uptown crap.
Not to mention Trump’s book - Mein, Mein, all Mein.
Or his other book - Mein Kampf 2. The harrowing story where he only started out with a “small” 14 million dollar loan from his father.