Jewish author: Don't compare Trump to Hitler - it belittles Hitler

Shalom Auslander pens 'Washington Post' op-ed, claiming that "Hitler was a psychopath. Trump is just a con man."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 12:35
Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump (photo credit: REUTERS)
Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Jewish author and screenwriter Shalom Auslander shot down comparisons of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler in a published Tuesday, claiming that such comparisons "belittle" Hitler.
Auslander, who was raised in the ultra-Orthodox community of Monsey, New York, is the author of the memoir Foreskin's Lament and the creator and writer of the Showtime series "Happyish."
Throughout the 2016 US presidential campaign various people have made the Trump-Hitler comparison, including Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, singer Cher, former ADL chief Abraham Foxman and right-wing pundit Glenn Beck.
Auslander, who refers to himself as "a New York Writer Liberal Jew, the scariest Jew of all," wrote in the Post op-ed that the Trump-Hitler comparisons bother him "not because it belittles the deaths of millions of innocents, but because, frankly, it belittles Adolf Hitler."
According to Auslander, as deplorable as his actions were, Hitler could not be knocked for not deeply believing in his racist theories. Trump, on the other hand, does not hold deep convictions, the author argued.
"Hitler was a psychopath. Trump is just a con man. Hitler had some opinions, he had some plans. They were monstrous and evil, and reason enough for even an avowed atheist to consider the existence of Satan. But I don’t recall Hitler flip-flopping. I don’t see him saying one morning, 'I’m going to invade Poland,' and then 'softening' his stance that afternoon after meeting with Sean Hannity. He didn’t decide to kill the Jews, then change his mind when his new campaign manager arrived," Auslander quipped.
He referred to  Trump as a "two-bit con man...playing the fools."
Auslander stressed that he was by no means praising Hitler. "No. I’m saying that if you absolutely had to find just one thing to say about Hitler that was positive — if you could somehow siphon out all the festering, maggot-infested sewage that filled his soul to reveal one razor-thin sliver to point to in his favor — you could possibly say, well, at least he believed what he said...Which you can’t say about Donald Trump."