I do NOT think that Trump is like Hitler (I found the hand-raising video creepy, but I’d never go that far) but I do think that some of the attitudes that helped Hitler get into power- a nation in distress, a perceived outer enemy (or two or three…) and the xenophobia coming with it, the desire to rally around someone who says aloud what people are only willing to think and glorifies nationalism and populism, dreaming of a return to some kind of prior greatness that they feel has been challenged by “the other”- have disturbing similarities. While electing Trump won’t be electing Hitler IMO, what scares me is that if Hitler were running, people probably would vote for him for the same reasons they like Trump.
The populism especially concerns me (and this is about Trump as well). It’s never been good for the Jews in any of the countries we’ve lived in. Ever. Not to be boring by quoting Neimoller, but still, the xenophobia that is directed at others could turn to us at any point, particularly given Israel’s complicated political situation in this day and age. (To be fair, though, I find it generally disturbing as well- I don’t think it should be directed against the others either…)