16 votes

Instead of Adolf Hitler, consider comparing US President Donald Trump to Chairman Mao Zedong

Posted by boxer_dogs_dance
Tags: politics.usa, usa, republican party, presidents, donald trump, mao zedong, adolf hitler, analysis, china, author.lawrence macdonald, source.medium, regwall
https://medium.com/@ClimateBoomer/understanding-trump-as-mao-d17c6a85f657

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Title
Understanding Trump as Mao
Authors
Lawrence MacDonald @ClimateBoomer
Published
Mar 13 2025
Word count
1195 words

6 comments

  1. [2]
    stu2b50
    Link
    I don't think the article very convincing. Other than surface level details, the author has to contort situations considerably to make them "parallel". For instance Like, really? We're comparing...

    I don't think the article very convincing. Other than surface level details, the author has to contort situations considerably to make them "parallel". For instance

    After the disastrous Great Leap Forward (1958–1962) Mao was sidelined by technocratic leaders, notably Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, who put China on a path towards economic development. Angry and restive, Mao regained power by launching the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in 1966, a violent convulsion that persecuted millions of people, mostly educated urbanites, driving many to suicide.

    Trump, too, was pushed from power after a disastrous term, including a bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in 400,000 American deaths, only to return with vengeance and knowledge of the levers of power. Trump purges are just beginning but already thousands of dedicated civil servants fired after years of service are suffering anxiety and depression, and a handful have reportedly taken their lives.

    Like, really? We're comparing Trump's first term with the Great Leap Forward, and Trump's second term with the Cultural Revolution? The author is also considerably overstating the amount to which Mao lost power from 1962-1966; it's certainly not comparable to Biden actually being the elected head of state.

    The most I can agree with is that indeed they both like the color red and are fat.

    21 votes
    1. boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      Speaking personally, I first started comparing Trump and Mao in my mind this term, when he moved to defund the universities. Also, I see him as entirely capable of mistakes of the scope, scale and...

      Speaking personally, I first started comparing Trump and Mao in my mind this term, when he moved to defund the universities.

      Also, I see him as entirely capable of mistakes of the scope, scale and stupidity as the order to kill sparrows. Trump doesn't listen to experts. Hitler, for all his flaws and evil, very much did.

      9 votes
  2. [2]
    IudexMiku
    Link
    I don't see the value in this flimsy comparison. I don't think the author could've picked worse world leaders to compare if they just rolled dice. It also reeks of this kind of anti-Asian...

    I don't see the value in this flimsy comparison. I don't think the author could've picked worse world leaders to compare if they just rolled dice.
    It also reeks of this kind of anti-Asian sentiment, where anything bad in the USA is compared to Asia for no reason other than a distrust of foreigners.
    Donald Trump is a bad person because of his beliefs and actions, not because of a superficial similarity to someone else. Outsourcing his evil to China ignores that what Donald Trump is doing and believes is very firmly US American.

    11 votes
    1. boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      I can only speak for myself, but my comparison started with Hitler and Mussolini and Pinochet, until Trump went after the professors. The cultural revolution is a well known moment in history...

      I can only speak for myself, but my comparison started with Hitler and Mussolini and Pinochet, until Trump went after the professors.

      The cultural revolution is a well known moment in history where fanatical followers of a movement disregarded traditional ideas of expertise and substituted ideological goals for prudence and prosperity.

      The real point in such comparisons is to reinforce that whatever MAGA might actually be, they are radical, not conservative.

      A conservative would respect chesterton's fence.

      8 votes
  3. [2]
    rosco
    Link
    Eh, I always think of him more as Spain's Franco. Cleptocrat and Neoptism combined into a force de jour of absolute bastardry. We haven't reached political assassination, but he might just leave...

    Eh, I always think of him more as Spain's Franco. Cleptocrat and Neoptism combined into a force de jour of absolute bastardry. We haven't reached political assassination, but he might just leave that to mob violence.

    5 votes
    1. boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      They have aspects in common, but I thought Franco was closer to traditional conservatism than most fascist leaders. I could easily be wrong. Paxton's book the Anatomy of Fascism is my source for...

      They have aspects in common, but I thought Franco was closer to traditional conservatism than most fascist leaders.

      I could easily be wrong. Paxton's book the Anatomy of Fascism is my source for most of what I know about fascism after my high school and university history classes.

      2 votes