MSNBC used Nazi rally clips during its coverage of former President Donald Trump’s historic campaign event at Madison Square Garden in a desperate last-ditch bid to frighten voters into supporting the floundering Democratic ticket.
The left-wing network weaved archival footage from the 1939 Nazi rally into the broadcast of Trump’s Sunday rally, which saw the iconic New York City venue packed to the rafters with jubilant supporters.
“That jamboree happening right now, in that place, is particularly chilling, because in 1939, more than 20,000 supporters of a different fascist leader – Adolf Hitler – packed the Garden for a so-called ‘pro-America rally,’” Washington Post columnist, MSNBC contributor and avowed Trump hater Jonathan Capehart said breathlessly while rolling the footage.
Capehart’s juxtaposition of the two videos was blasted as “shameful” by conservatives, who pointed out the diversity of the crowd.
“Yesterday’s Trump rally was filled with Americans from every walk of life including orthodox, conservative, reform, and secular Jews. I saw a woman in a burka. It wasn’t anything like a Nazi rally. Shame on MSNBC,” wrote one X user.
Others pointed out that Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski was among those in attendance
Follow the NY Post’s live updates on the 2024 presidential race as Election Day looms
Tesla founder Elon Musk, who spoke at the rally, also blasted MSNBC — the No. 2 cable news network — as the “scum of the Earth” on X, and some critics even went so far as to accuse the network of “incitement.”
Quinnipiac University journalism ethics professor Ben Bogardus told The Post networks like MSNBC were “blurring the lines” between opinion-based commentary and news reporting, and that the rhetoric is reaching a fever pitch because we’re so close to the election.
He said although MSNBC’s intentions may be to give viewers a historical context for events like Trump’s MSG rally, the overuse of inflammatory images harms their credibility, and that of the media in general.
“They’re really doing a disservice to their [audience] when they put out images from a rally 85 years ago that no one alive remembers. I think it’s a little bit of an over-exaggeration that really hurts the image of the media among some segments of the population,” he said.
Democrats have endeavored to portray themselves as the party of positivity, unity and “joy” throughout the campaign, a sentiment Vice President Kamala Harris tried to highlight during her nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in August when she called for “a new way forward.”
But MSNBC has instead compared Trump supporters to Nazis and trotted out hackneyed and over-the-top comparisons between the former president and history’s greatest monster.
On Monday morning’s broadcast of “Morning Joe,” cohost Mika Brzezinski clutched her pearls as she slammed Trump’s rally as “normalizing hatred” and issued a dire, unfounded warning.
“Let’s not mince words about what that leads to: This is the process that leads to fascism,” she said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a guest on “Morning Joe,” presaged that Trump’s MSG event was no ordinary campaign event.
“This was not just a political rally. This was also not just a campaign rally. I think it’s very important for people to understand that these are mini January 6 rallies,” the “Squad” member said with a completely straight face.
“These are mini ‘stop the steal’ rallies. These are rallies to prime an electorate into rejecting the results of an election if it doesn’t go the way they want.”
The Nazi comparisons rang particularly hollow, prompting some critics to say it reflects badly on the media establishment as a whole.
“You don’t hate the media enough,” posted Republican pundit Colin Rugg. “Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski was in attendance at the rally this evening, along with other Jews who were supporting Trump.”
Wartski, 94, endorsed Trump last week in a campaign video and slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for referring to the ex-president as a “fascist.”
When asked why Jewish people should back Trump, the Auschwitz survivor responded, “Because he’s a mensch.”
