‘If we do not wake ourselves up to the danger that we face, then this country will die in its sleep.’
Former congressman and emo presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke delivered this cheerful message on Wednesday during a live interview at the Washington Post. After arriving to the event 30 minutes late (much to Cockburn’s displeasure), O’Rourke sat down with the Post’s Robert Costa to discuss, among many things, the similarities between our current political moment and 1930s Nazi Germany.
When asked about previously comparing Trump rallies to Nuremberg Rallies, O’Rourke responded, ‘outside of the Third Reich, give me another example of a Western leader who has called one people of one faith inherently defective, dangerous, or disqualified from being successful in that country.’
‘You ask yourself when you look at the history of the Third Reich,’ O’Rourke wondered aloud, ‘how did a modern country — well educated, a source of innovation and ingenuity, and world leadership in the world — descend into that level of barbarity?’
Citing President Trump’s controversial remarks about immigration and Charlottesville’s Unite the Right Rally, O’Rourke warned, ‘If we fail to connect the dots and draw the conclusion, then we’re going to die in our sleep as a country,’ and ‘lose this democracy.’
Shortly after comparing the United States in 2019 to Germany in 1934, O’Rourke described Trump’s ‘lynching’ comment as ‘one of the most obscene things’ he has ‘heard in American life.’
While Mr O’Rourke has a penchant for hyperbole, Cockburn thinks the former congressman is on to something: it might be best to leave historic injustices alone when trying to score political points.
Got a tip for Cockburn? Email cockburn@spectator.us.
