Trump's Execution Fantasies Should Be a Warning to His Supporters

Trump supporters can't say they weren't warned. The man who reportedly admires Hitler and threatens critics will likely turn on his own supporters just like Hitler did.

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It’s become apparent that Donald Trump’s supporters lack the critical thinking skills to look at what’s happened to his makeshift 1/6 militia and realize that once he has used them, they too could well end up in prison or worse.

History teaches us that the man Trump reportedly admires, Adolf Hitler, turned on his own supporters, ordering the murder of over 150 people and arrest of hundreds more in what became known as The Night of the Long Knives.

The Night of the Long Knives took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934 on Hitler’s orders, targeting not only Hitler’s political enemies, but also the very Nazi paramilitary organization (Storm Troopers) that helped him rise to power, because he was afraid that his own supporters would become too powerful.

Proud Boys

Hitler's SS guards murdered the leadership of the Sturmabteilung/Storm Troopers, who had helped the Nazi Party gain support during its rise. Think of, oh, I don’t know… the far-right, neo-fascist militant organization of the Proud Boys, which engages in political violence like 1/6 in order to “protect” Donald Trump.

The all-male group consider themselves Trump’s unofficial protection source, and they say they’ve been gaining in recruitment. They use the “OK” sign to signal to other Trump supporters their support for white supremacy. They dress in black-and-yellow shirts. Four of their leaders are in prison having been convicted of seditious conspiracy. But they believe Donald Trump will pardon them, because he suggests he will while stumping on the campaign trail.

But they will be among the first to be targeted by Trump, should he ever make it back into power again, once they’ve served their purpose. So, too, many of Trump’s elite enablers if history is any guide.

The Night of Long Knives; aka the Röhm Putsch

The Holocaust Explained lays it out (emphasis mine):

“Hitler feared that the SA and Ernst Röhm, their leader, were a potential threat to his leadership. This fear was intensified by Göring and Himmler, who gave Hitler news of Röhm organising a potential coup.

In addition to this, there was a mutual dislike between the traditional conservative elite – who maintained many key positions in the government and the army during the first years of the Third Reich – and the SA. During the years of the rise of the Nazi Party, the SA had been instrumental in helping the party to gain support.

However, following Hitler being elected chancellor, the SA, and particularly Röhm, were keen to continue the ‘revolution’ and replace the traditional conservative elite with Nazis. Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership disagreed with their approach. They understood the need to appear moderate and take over slowly by democratic means where possible, maintaining the stability and illusion of a democracy. The tension between the SA and the Nazi leadership grew.

On 30 June 1934 these tensions came to a head. The leaders of the SA were ordered to attend a meeting at a hotel in Bad Wiesse, Bavaria. Hitler arrived and personally placed Röhm and other high ranking SA leaders under arrest.

Over the next two days, most of the SA leadership were placed under arrest and murdered without trial. Röhm, who was initially pardoned, was then given the choice of suicide or murder. Refusing to take his own life, he was shot on 1 July 1934 by two SS guards.”

If this historical recollection seems like hyperbole, let’s recall that a majority of Trump’s own former administration officials are not endorsing him for president, and many of those closest to him are warning that he is a fascist who admires Hitler.

Trump’s own words and actions

We also have been given in recent days via Trump’s own mouth his “execution fantasy” about Republican Liz Cheney and threats to use the military against “the Left.”