“Alternative facts” is an astoundingly appropriate theme for the Trump White House, considering that he’s given the government stamp of approval to science-deniers and conspiracy theorists. Now, white supremacist holocaust deniers think their views have been given a platform as well, and rightly so.
In a news story that no one thought they’d ever see from a Republican White House, the official statement from the Trump Administration on Holocaust Remembrance Day made no mention of the 6 million Jews who were killed during WWII, or the growing anti-semitism across the globe.
In the ensuing backlash, Trump administration spokeswoman Hope Hicks doubled down, telling CNN that, “despite what the media reports, we are an incredibly inclusive group and we took into account all of those who suffered.”
Hicks then shared a Huffington Post UK link pointing to the 5 million other “priests, gypsies, people with mental or physical disabilities, communists, trade unionists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, anarchists, Poles and other Slavic peoples, and resistance fighters,” that were murdered in the Holocaust. When asked if the omission of Jews was on purpose, Hicks replied simply, “it was our honor to issue a statement in remembrance of this important day.”
Holocaust denial takes many forms, and while the White House gave itself some room for plausible deniability, the statement, and subsequent explanation, was unmistakably reminiscent of the vague language some use when they’re looking to diminish the suffering of Jews under Hitler.
But amid the ensuing outrage, America’s white supremacists were quite pleased, as indicated in an article published this Friday in the most widely-read website for racists, The Daily Stormer.
“Organized Jewry is frothing at the mouth at Donald Trump’s faux pas on ‘Holocaust memorial day,'” author Erik Striker started out.
“This is the first time in history the President of the United States has made no mention of Jews, anti-Semitism, or the science fiction Zionist folklore about ovens and gas chambers so prominent in (((Hollywood))) narratives,” Striker wrote, placing “Hollywood” between six parenthesis, which is white supremacist code for people who are Jewish.
Daily Stormer praises Trump for daring to reject Jewish "science fiction" about Holocaust. https://t.co/yt8b6fN8gu
— Chemi Shalev (@ChemiShalev) January 29, 2017
“Trump’s statement is obviously not pro-Nazi, but he is still exceeding expectations in pushing back against Jewish supremacy,” he continued. “The vast majority of people in America, who are generally ignorant regarding the truth of World War II, will see nothing wrong with Trump’s statement, but the kneejerk Jewish reaction exposes them once again.”
This disturbing commentary signifies a unprecedented shift in modern American politics: a significant portion of white supremacist ideology thinks it has found a sympathetic voice in the White House, and the Trump Administration did absolutely nothing to forcefully dispel that notion.
[H/T Chemi Shalev/TIME] To follow Sky Palma on Facebook, click here.
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