Hitler v Trump

Your correspondent Mr R Taylor has taken umbrage at Joe Bennett’s likening of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, which he claims is both unfair and insulting. I agree with Mr Taylor, but hope he agrees the insult is not directed at the current US President. Both Trump and Hitler embody the characteristics of paranoia, narcissism, untruthfulness and megalomania. However, there are some moral differences: Hitler was not a self-confessed ‘‘grabber’’; Hitler never faced multiple accusations of serial adultery;

Hitler was never accused of tax evasion or fraud;

Hitler, like Trump, told many lies, but at least took the trouble to pretend they were true;

Hitler was prepared to fight for his country and was decorated for bravery in WWI, unlike Trump, who found a doctor who was prepared to testify that his patient suffered foot spurs that exempted him from Vietnam War service. The doctor has subsequently admitted that he was paid to provide this erroneous diagnosis.

Evil stain that Hitler was on human history, Joe Bennett could have made a more fitting comparison for the current POTUS. The names Homer Simpson, Al Bundy and Mr Ed The Talking Horse spring to mind.

Ultimately, a better match would be the late and unlamented Idi Amin, another unhinged egomaniac who wrought chaos with his every self-serving decision. No doubt history will consign Trump, Hitler and Idi Amin to the same garbage heap as Shelley’s Ozymandias: ‘‘Look on my works and despair’’.

Warren Seastrand, New Plymouth