This political cartoon,
published on November 20, 2015 by The
Week magazine, depicts an interaction between president Donald Trump and
Adolf Hitler. The setting of the cartoon is on the Celebrity Apprentice, a popular
television show that Donald Trump previously hosted. Trump’s anti-Islamic
claims, as displayed in this image, are ones that the author believes Hitler
would support. As fascist dictator of Germany, Hitler was extremely anti-Semitic—he
tortured and murdered the people of his country and others solely due to their
religious beliefs and physical appearance. Presently, a similar issue of
prejudice exists in America and throughout the world. Muslims everywhere are
turned away simply due to their looks or clothing because of the numerous
terror groups in the Middle East, some of which claim to be affiliated with
Islam. In this text, the author uses slight hyperbole in the way that, although
Trump’s ideas of closing places of worship and forcing a certain group only to
carry identification are ignorant, racist, and inhumane, his actions are incomparable
to those of Hitler. The two may share some beliefs or general characteristics,
but Trump has not invaded other countries and committed mass murder of a
specific race. In addition, the image shows Trump’s hair covering his eyes. The
president’s hair is often ridiculed, which may have contributed to the drawing;
however, the author may have wanted to show that Trump is blindly following
Hitler’s belief system. Trump’s hands are also in the position in which Hitler’s
soldiers and followers were when they praised their leader. The combination of
these two aspects displays that Trump is not completely aware of where his
current statements and actions are leading the country. Blindly, he shares that
he wants to close mosques and force a single race to carry identification, thus
taking away Muslims’ right to freedom of religion and making the entire
religion outcasts in society. In conclusion, the above cartoon compares Trump
to Hitler in order to show Americans how drastic his anti-Islamic views are,
and how negatively his presidency can affect the United States.
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