Manzanar it was not
Trump is trying to rewrite his attempted coup.
Donald J. Trump on Friday tried to revise the history of the deadly attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, as new details in the federal prosecution against him were made public by the judge in the case.
His attempt to recast the events of Jan. 6, 2021, came on the same day that he compared his supporters who were arrested, convicted and imprisoned for their actions at the Capitol to the victims of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II. And it followed a recent remark in which Mr. Trump declared Jan. 6 a day of “love.”
It says something about this country that it hasn’t been possible to imprison him for the coup or even to stop him running again after inciting a violent insurrection. It makes me want to puke.
Earlier on Friday, on a podcast hosted by the conservative media figure Dan Bongino, Mr. Trump lamented how those arrested in connection with the attack have been treated.
“Why are they still being held?” Mr. Trump told Mr. Bongino. “Nobody’s ever been treated like this. Maybe the Japanese during the Second World War, frankly. They were held, too.”
Japanese-Americans during World War 2 had done nothing wrong, and were imprisoned because they were seen as “alien” in a way German-Americans were not, in other words because of blatant racism. Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor did not go to the US Capitol and try to force their way in and attack legislators. Trump’s violent fans did, after he gave a speech encouraging them (without quite explicitly spelling it out) to do so.
I can highly recommend Timothy Snyder’s blog Thinking About … on substack. He makes the fascist nature of Trump and his hero Putin abundantly clear. Check out his recent videos “Why is fascism bad, Professor” and “Can fascism be American?”. He’s recording them on the road, as he travels around Ohio campaigning for Harris.
Snyder’s books are worth a read, too. I am currently reading Bloodlands, about the atrocities to Ukrainians committed by Stalin and Hitler. Thoroughly depressing reading, but all the more relevant these days. His recent book “On Freedom” is more uplifting, and a good one to read. Oh, and he has a long series of video lectures on the history of Ukraine. Alas, I haven’t found the time for those yet.
…and very likely winning.
Harald, thanks for the tip, sounds very interesting.
Anne Applebaum’s Autocracy Inc. is worth checking out as well.
Bloodlands is excellent, and utterly depressing.
It is indeed. I didn’t know about the blog; thanks Harald!