In the viral image shared on Imgur, we see a provocative scene: former President Donald Trump appears dejected, while behind him, as a ghostly shadow, stands Adolf Hitler, placing a consoling hand on Trump’s shoulder. Below, the message reads: “Stay strong. They hated me too.”
This is not just a visual provocation. It’s a warning—a chilling reminder of how thin the line can become between polarizing political rhetoric and the normalization of extremist ideologies.
Comparing any modern leader to Hitler is, undoubtedly, a weighty act. Not all criticisms are equal, and not all leaders belong on the same moral plane. Yet what this image conveys is not a direct accusation but an alarm: when hate speech, division, and the dehumanization of the “other” become everyday political strategies, we open dangerous doors.
Many world leaders have voiced warnings about this trend. Angela Merkel repeatedly spoke about the “poison” that hate speech injects into modern democracies. António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has stated that “hate is back with a vengeance, fueled by social media that spread extremist ideologies at unprecedented speeds.”
Even figures outside the usual political arena, like Pope Francis, have warned that a culture of division and disregard for the vulnerable leads to “new forms of totalitarianism.”
The problem does not lie solely with leaders. It lies with citizens too—with our increasing tolerance for messages we once would have categorically rejected. Every time we normalize mocking the different, scorning the immigrant, or casually insulting dissenters, we are laying another brick in a wall that separates us from our shared humanity.
The image of Trump and Hitler does not directly accuse but suggests: hate does not seize power all at once—it seeps in, it becomes normal, it becomes part of daily conversation. Until one day, it is too late to stop it.
Remembering history, then, is not an act of nostalgia—it is an act of survival.