Former President Donald Trump's account shared a video on social media Monday that included reference to a "unified Reich" among possible developments if he were to win re-election in November, drawing criticism from the Biden campaign.
Trump's account posted a 30-second video to his Truth Social platform on Monday afternoon which asks "what happens after Donald Trump wins?" and "what's next for America?" NBC News reported.
The background is made up of hypothetical newspaper front pages with headlines including "BORDER IS CLOSED — 15 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS DEPORTED" and "ECONOMY BOOMS."
Twice in the clip, slightly blurred text appears beneath the headlines that reads: "Industrial strength significantly increased ... driven by the creation of a unified Reich."
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
The post of the video had been deleted from Truth Social on Tuesday morning.
U.S. & World
"Reich," meaning realm, kingdom or empire, is often considered to be a reference to the Third Reich regime of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler that emerged in 1930s Germany — and its inclusion in the video was condemned by Democrats.
"America, stop scrolling and pay attention. Donald Trump is not playing games; he is telling America exactly what he intends to do if he regains power: rule as a dictator over a 'unified reich,'" James Singer, spokesman for President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, said in a statement Monday night.
"Parroting 'Mein Kampf' while you warn of a bloodbath if you lose is the type of unhinged behavior you get from a guy who knows that democracy continues to reject his extreme vision of chaos, division, and violence," Singer said.
Singer said in a statement Tuesday that Trump’s post “is part of a pattern of his praise for dictators and echoing antisemitic tropes. He’s a threat to our democracy and Americans must reject him and stand up for our democracy this November.”
Trump’s campaign dismissed the allegation and said the former president — who is on trial in New York — was not aware the word appeared in the video.
“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," Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign spokeswoman, said in a statement.
"The real extremist is Joe Biden who has turned his back on Israel and the Jewish people by bowing down to radical anti-semites and terrorist sympathizers in his party like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," she added.
While Hitler did discuss the creation of an enlarged German empire in Mein Kampf, the text from the video shared on Truth Social appears to be taken from the Wikipedia page for World War I.
The site reads: “German industrial strength and production had significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich.”
The unification of Germany in 1871 brought together an assortment of German-speaking kingdoms and duchies that were left independent following the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.
Another sentence in the video reads: "First World War (often abbreviated as WW1 or WWI) Causes of World War I."
Trump has used 20th-century German historical comparisons to attack his opponents: earlier this month he compared the Biden administration to the "Gestapo, " the secret police force of Nazi Germany.
Late last year Trump said immigrants were "poisoning the blood" of America, echoing parts of Mein Kampf, but he said he was unaware Hitler had used similar language and denied the comments were racist.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the Biden administration couldn't comment on the post specifically but added in a statement: "It is abhorrent, sickening, and disgraceful for anyone to promote content associated with Germany’s Nazi government under Adolf Hitler."
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:
- Biden holds big cash edge as Trump's new-look RNC steps up fundraising
- Pro-Israel groups ramp up spending against Republicans
- RFK Jr. lists last decade's Iranian president, Putin and Xi as people the U.S. president should meet
Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner and Lindsey Pipia contributed.
