Barack Obama invoked Adolf Hitler's rise in Nazi Germany while warning in a Chicago speech about growing nativism in the United States – a thinly veiled jab at Donald Trump, the president’s supporters claimed.
“We have to tend to this garden of democracy or else things could fall apart quickly,” the former president told the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday, The Independent reported.
“That's what happened in Germany in the 1930s which, despite the democracy of the Weimar Republic and centuries of high-level cultural and scientific achievements, Adolph Hitler rose to dominate,” Obama said, per The Independent.
Obama pointed out that 60 million people died during the time, noting why it was important for people to pay attention and to vote.
The Hill reported that, while many of Obama’s remarks were aimed at Trump, he did not directly mention the current president’s name during his speech.
Trump supporters slammed the comparison.
Michael Johns, a Tea Party founder, said it was unfortunate that Obama, who he felt was an intelligent man, would make the mistake of comparing the U.S. president to the Nazi leader.
“Hitler killed six million innocent civilians; Donald Trump has created over one million jobs and killed absolutely no-one,” Johns said, per The Telegraph. "There is no equivalence."
Jesse Watters, a political commentator, said the comparisons were demeaning.
“I understand why he’s angry but that was a horrific comparison,” Watters said, per The Telegraph.
There was an outcry on social media from Trump supporters.
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