Well, apparently, Donald Trump has decided to make Stephen Miller his new White House Chief of Staff.
And honestly, who the fuck cares? Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh. But I do have something to say about this.
Now, let me make something very clear. I am not a fan of Stephen Miller. I’m not particularly fond of the guy, and I certainly don’t agree with everything he stands for or advocates for politically.
But there’s something that has been bothering me about the way people are responding to him. And it’s something I see happening way too often in American politics.
People are comparing him to Hitler.
Yes. Hitler.
I’ve even seen people throwing around comparisons like “Jewish Hitler.”
And I’m sitting here thinking: What the actual fuck are we doing?
No. Just no.
Stephen Miller is not Hitler. Donald Trump is not Hitler. Republicans, generally speaking, are not Hitler. And I’m getting really fucking tired of people throwing around these comparisons as if they’re somehow making a meaningful political argument.
Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I’m not defending Stephen Miller. I’m not defending Trump. I’m not defending the Republican Party. You can criticize these people all you want. Believe me, there’s plenty to criticize.
But can we please stop pretending that every politician we dislike is somehow the second coming of Adolf Hitler?
Here’s the problem with this kind of rhetoric.
First, we’re minimizing what the Nazis actually did.
Let’s remember what we’re talking about here. Nazi Germany was responsible for the Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million Jewish people, alongside the persecution and murder of millions of other victims. We’re talking about a regime that carried out industrialized genocide, started a world war, and committed some of the most horrific atrocities in human history.
That is not just another political administration that you happen to disagree with.
And when you start comparing every politician, every political movement, and every controversial policy to Hitler and Nazi Germany, you’re taking something that should carry enormous historical weight and turning it into another political insult.
Eventually, the comparison loses its meaning.
Second, you’re overblowing the actions of the people you’re criticizing.
And I don’t mean that their actions are necessarily harmless. Not at all.
If Stephen Miller supports policies that you believe are harmful, criticize those policies. If Trump does something you disagree with, explain why you disagree with it. If Republicans pass legislation that you think is dangerous, make an argument against that legislation.
There are actual arguments to be made here.
You don’t need to compare someone to Hitler to make those arguments.
In fact, I would argue that doing so can make your criticism considerably weaker.
Because instead of discussing the actual policies, you’re suddenly arguing about whether someone is Hitler.
And that’s a distraction.
And you know who I think is particularly guilty of this?
Liberals.
Yes, liberals. And some leftists and progressives are guilty of it too, but I think this kind of rhetoric is especially prevalent among liberals.
And look, I’m not saying conservatives don’t do their own version of this. They absolutely do. Political hyperbole isn’t exclusive to one side.
But I expect better from people who claim to be fighting for a more informed, compassionate, and reasonable political environment.
You can oppose Trump without calling him Hitler.
You can oppose Stephen Miller without calling him Hitler.
You can oppose Republican policies without calling Republicans Nazis.
And you can do all of that while taking the very real concerns about authoritarianism, discrimination, immigration enforcement, and government power seriously.
Those issues deserve serious discussion. They deserve scrutiny. They deserve accountability.
But constantly reaching for Nazi comparisons isn’t going to help.
And here’s another thing: We should be able to criticize politicians without turning them into historical monsters they’re not.
Someone doesn’t have to be Hitler to be a bad politician. Someone doesn’t have to be a Nazi to support a terrible policy. Someone doesn’t have to be responsible for genocide to deserve criticism.
There are plenty of other ways to describe political behavior that we find unacceptable.
So, please, let’s have some standards here.
I don’t like Stephen Miller. I don’t particularly like Trump. And I certainly have plenty of disagreements with Republicans.
But they’re not Hitler.
And I’m tired of pretending that calling someone Hitler is somehow the ultimate form of political criticism.
It isn’t.
If you want to criticize someone, criticize them for what they’re actually doing. Make your arguments. Bring evidence. Hold them accountable.
But stop throwing around comparisons to Nazi Germany like they’re nothing.
History deserves better than that.
And frankly, so does political discourse.