OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Michael Bloomberg managed to link border security to Nazis and misrepresent President Trump’s words on Holocaust Remembrance Day as he used the solemn occasion to grandstand and promote his campaign for the top spot on the Democratic ticket.
In multiple posts on social media, Michael Bloomberg stated falsely that policies at the border are based on skin color and religion.
He also claimed that these racist policies “embolden” racist Americans and hinted that they are hoping for another Holocaust.
This is the statement from Michael Bloomberg:
I remember visiting Auschwitz a couple years ago, walking the same paths our ancestors trudged down to the gas chambers and ovens.
As we mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we are reminded of what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of Great Britain teaches: “The hate that starts with the Jews never ends there.” And we also know that what starts with others can end with us.
So when children are ripped from mothers at the border because their skin is darker, or when immigrants are denied entrance based on their religion or nationality, we hear history’s dark echoes – while others hear a dog whistle and become emboldened and empowered.
Leaders sets a tone. It is either inclusive or exclusive, divisive or uniting, incendiary or calming. It either appeals to “very fine people on both sides” of bigotry — or it unequivocally rejects it.
Well, to me, there is no such thing as a “very fine” white supremacist. I choose inclusion. I choose tolerance. I choose America.
This is how the statement appeared on Instagram.
Breitbart reported on the debunked claims that President Trump complimented the neo-Nazis in 2017.
In March 2019, Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak dismantled the lie that Trump described white supremacists and neo-Nazis as “very fine people” following 2017’s demonstrations and riots in Charlottesville, VA.
The official launch of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign was predicated on the aforementioned false narrative, framing Trump as sympathetic to and aligned with “white supremacists.”
Comparing political opponents to Nazis is an ancient trope of politicians that have wished to replace a debate about principles and policy with name calling and hyperbole.
This strategy is not unique to the 2020 election.
