By Nick Robertson - 05/21/24

A campaign video posted to former President Trump’s Truth Social page Monday included a note about establishing a “unified Reich” and other references to the German Empire as hypothetical headlines if he were to win the 2024 election.

The video was widely criticized online, including by the Biden campaign, which said it is “echoing Nazi Germany.”

The headline appears among messages flashing across the screen such as “Trump wins!!” and “Economy booms!” Other headlines appear to be references to World War I.

The video comes as the presumptive GOP nominee already faces criticism for using language linked to Nazi Germany.

Rhetoric in the campaign video appears to be from a video template found online, titled “Newspaper Vintage History Headlines Promo.” The main headlines in the template reference the history of Germany and the World Wars, reading things such as “World War II Begins, September 1939.”

The text referencing a “unified Reich” in the video appears to be taken verbatim from a Wikipedia entry for World War I and is part of the template.

“This was not a campaign video, it was created by a random account online and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word, while the President was in court,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told The Associated Press in a statement.

Trump has previously faced criticism for claiming President Biden is running a “Gestapo administration,” referring to the secret Nazi police force. He was also widely rebuked for saying immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,” he and called his opponents “vermin,” language which echoed Adolf Hitler.

The attacks from the Biden campaign add to attempts to link a second Trump administration to authoritarianism and revenge. The campaign has repeatedly warned that the former president would use a second term to get back at his political enemies.