Senator Marco Rubio threw his support to Adolf Hitler today. While he acknowledged his differences with Hitler, he indicated that he “agreed with Hitler on some things, but he disagreed with Hillary Clinton on everything.”
Rubio conceded that he had concerns about some of Hitler’s unconventional rhetoric, particularly about Jews, but said that Hitler’s statements should be taken “seriously, but not literally.” He further suggested that he would have more influence with Hitler from the inside than the outside, and expressed confidence that the country’s institutions were strong enough to keep Hitler from making good on his more extreme promises.
Just to make this crystal clear, I am not saying that Trump is Hitler, or that Rubio is any worse than any of Trump’s other enablers. I am merely pointing out that the arguments made by members of the right in favor of enabling sound a lot like the positions taken by members of the moderate German right in 1933, and that didn’t turn out too well. The only appropriate response to Trump’s outrages is resistance–period.