That 2016 presidential hopeful Donald Trump likes to say and do controversial, attention-grabbing things should really come as no surprise. Yet if you think his raised right hand in the photo above is on it’s way to completing Adolf Hilter’s famous Nazi salute, you wouldn’t be totally wrong. At least, that’s a conclusion many on the Internet made today after noticing something strange in a now-deleted tweet.
Mother Jones caught a screenshot of the tweet in question before it disappeared into the ether. Supposedly, it contains marching Nazi soldiers in the bottom right corner of the photo:
John Schindler, an intelligence analyst and counterintelligence officer for the National Security Administration (NSA) from 1996 to 2004, caught on to the mistake in Trump’s tweeted campaign ad:
#MEGAFAIL ===> Yes, those aren't just WW2 Germans, they're Waffen-SS in the Trump campaign pic https://t.co/BSFNuNrK6R
— John Schindler (@20committee) July 14, 2015
Schindler went on to tweet at length about the poorly-chosen photo. A trained historian, he even provided color photographs of German World War II-era uniforms for comparison:
Notice the late-war Waffen-SS "dot" camo tunic, with SS eagle on left arm as in the Trump pic https://t.co/b3pwWmdwHY pic.twitter.com/ulScwicbZU
— John Schindler (@20committee) July 14, 2015
See also Waffen-SS tunic with unit cuff title & SS eagle on left arm, as in Trump pic https://t.co/b3pwWmdwHY pic.twitter.com/IdQlwcIebJ
— John Schindler (@20committee) July 14, 2015
The Nation contributor Reed F. Richardson found the offending stock photo on iStock, literally using the keyword search phrase “world war II soldiers.” Of course, there were soldiers fighting in WWII from several countries, and not just from the United States. Hence why it was called a “World War” instead of, um, a “war.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment. In response, they lifted the blame entirely from the Donald himself and laid it all out on some poor, nameless intern:
“Mr. Trump has been in Charlottesville, Virginia, all day at the opening of a development,” a Trump campaign spokesperson told the Daily Dot. “A young intern created and posted the image and did not see the very faded figures within the flag of the stock photo. The intern apologized and immediately deleted the tweet.”
At least the kid wasn’t fired. Then again, considering Trump is no longer affiliated with NBC and the two hit shows he helped create, he’s probably not allowed to say that particular phrase anymore due to trademark.
(Via Mother Jones, The Daily Dot)