Axios reported back in 2019, even before President Donald Trump had finished his first term in office, that Trump had accused his political opponents, government officials, and members of the media of having committed “treason” at least 24 separate times. Since, as Trump likes to mention, treason is a crime punishable by death, that’s a pretty serious accusation. And 24 is a pretty decent number when you haven’t yet spent four years in office.
If you’re a Republican who gives offense, Trump goes lighter on you. When former attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Trump accused him only of being a “traitor,” as opposed to having committed “treason.”
Those couple dozen occasions are of course not alone. Here’s a link to 15 other times when Trump used dehumanizing language — “garbage,” “vermin,” “human refuse,” you get the idea — to describe people.
But those are mere insults. How about the times when Trump called people Marxists, and communists, and the like?
Google is a wonderful thing. Let’s start with “Marxists” and “communists.”
In June 2023, after Trump had been indicted by a New York grand jury, he took aim at President Joe Biden and Democrats: “[Trump] was being persecuted, he said, by ‘Marxists’ and ‘communists.’”
A few days later, “Trump told a crowd of his supporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, that Biden, ‘together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits, and Marxists, tried to destroy American democracy.’”
At roughly the same time, many of Trump’s campaign emails and Truth Social posts insisted that, under Biden’s leadership, America would become a “third world Marxist regime” or a “tyrannical Marxist nation.”
Trump added, “If the communists get away with this, it won’t stop with me.”
OK. The man was hot. He’d just been indicted. But surely he’d calm down, no? And, to the extent that it matters, Trump was drawing parallels only to Marxists and communists, not fascists.
Oh, wait:
We will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. And we will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.
(Donald Trump, campaign speech in Michigan, June 25, 2023.)
Well, at least we haven’t yet gotten to the Nazis.
Oh, wait again:
The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.
(Trump campaign post on Truth Social, August 2023.)
That’s not just Nazis: Trump’s campaign picks up Nazis, the former Soviet Union, and the umbrella of “other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes” all in one post. The man covers a lot of ground.
There’s still a hedge in that last accusation — “reminiscent of.” Perhaps that’s too indirect. How about this?
“She’s a fascist, OK? She’s a fascist.” (Donald Trump, campaign speech in Georgia, October 28, 2024.)
But now, with the death of Charlie Kirk, Trump promises to fix all that:
For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.
My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law-enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.
(Donald Trump, video address to the country, September 10, 2025.)
Good idea, Donald. Go for it.
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.
The post Trump Pot, Meet Trump Kettle appeared first on Above the Law.
Axios reported back in 2019, even before President Donald Trump had finished his first term in office, that Trump had accused his political opponents, government officials, and members of the media of having committed “treason” at least 24 separate times. Since, as Trump likes to mention, treason is a crime punishable by death, that’s a pretty serious accusation. And 24 is a pretty decent number when you haven’t yet spent four years in office.
If you’re a Republican who gives offense, Trump goes lighter on you. When former attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Trump accused him only of being a “traitor,” as opposed to having committed “treason.”
Those couple dozen occasions are of course not alone. Here’s a link to 15 other times when Trump used dehumanizing language — “garbage,” “vermin,” “human refuse,” you get the idea — to describe people.
But those are mere insults. How about the times when Trump called people Marxists, and communists, and the like?
Google is a wonderful thing. Let’s start with “Marxists” and “communists.”
In June 2023, after Trump had been indicted by a New York grand jury, he took aim at President Joe Biden and Democrats: “[Trump] was being persecuted, he said, by ‘Marxists’ and ‘communists.’”
A few days later, “Trump told a crowd of his supporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, that Biden, ‘together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits, and Marxists, tried to destroy American democracy.’”
At roughly the same time, many of Trump’s campaign emails and Truth Social posts insisted that, under Biden’s leadership, America would become a “third world Marxist regime” or a “tyrannical Marxist nation.”
Trump added, “If the communists get away with this, it won’t stop with me.”
OK. The man was hot. He’d just been indicted. But surely he’d calm down, no? And, to the extent that it matters, Trump was drawing parallels only to Marxists and communists, not fascists.
Oh, wait:
We will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. And we will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.
(Donald Trump, campaign speech in Michigan, June 25, 2023.)
Well, at least we haven’t yet gotten to the Nazis.
Oh, wait again:
The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.
(Trump campaign post on Truth Social, August 2023.)
That’s not just Nazis: Trump’s campaign picks up Nazis, the former Soviet Union, and the umbrella of “other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes” all in one post. The man covers a lot of ground.
There’s still a hedge in that last accusation — “reminiscent of.” Perhaps that’s too indirect. How about this?
“She’s a fascist, OK? She’s a fascist.” (Donald Trump, campaign speech in Georgia, October 28, 2024.)
But now, with the death of Charlie Kirk, Trump promises to fix all that:
For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.
My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law-enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.
(Donald Trump, video address to the country, September 10, 2025.)
Good idea, Donald. Go for it.
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at [email protected].
