Attorney Behind ‘Godwin’s Law’ Approves Comparing Trump to Hitler

It is perfectly fine to compare former President Donald J. Trump to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, according to the creator of “Godwin’s Law,” which suggests that as a debate progresses the mention of Hitler is almost certain and the first to do so loses the argument.

In a Wednesday Washington Post piece by attorney-author Mike Godwin, titled “Yes, it’s okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don’t let me stop you,” the “Godwin’s Law” originator ironically appeared to contradict his own rule.

Godwin’s Law, which has spread virally ever since its inception in 1990, states that as an online discussion grows, the likelihood of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 100%. 

My Washington Post op-ed has been posted. You'll never guess what it's about. https://t.co/vrXe9ksXQE

— Mike Godwin (he/him) (@sfmnemonic) December 20, 2023

Unlike other “goofy” references and comparisons to Hitler in the media, Godwin warned, “when people draw parallels between Donald Trump’s 2024 candidacy and Hitler’s progression from fringe figure to Great Dictator, we aren’t joking.” 

“Those of us who hope to preserve our democratic institutions need to underscore the resemblance before we enter the twilight of American democracy,” he writes.

According to Godwin, the law he coined “isn’t violated” by President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign’s criticisms of the former president’s “increasingly unsubtle messaging.” 

“We had the luxury of deriving humor from Hitler and Nazi comparisons when doing so was almost always hyperbole,” he writes. “It’s not a luxury we can afford anymore.”

Warning of the potential dangers to democracy and the enabling of “fascism” through support for Trump’s political ambitions, he suggests that the former president’s “frank authoritarianism” and divisive rhetoric warrant such comparisons.

“Trump has the backing of political actors who are laboring to give the would-be 47th president the kind of command-and-control government he wants,” Godwin writes. “Their proposals for maximizing and consolidating the powers of the federal government under a single individual at the top — provided that the individual is appropriately ‘conservative’ — don’t sound like an American democracy.”

“What they sound and look like is a framework to enable fascism,” he added. “And we have to thank Trump for being admirably forthcoming that he plans to be a dictator — although, he says, only on ‘Day One.’”

He goes on to accuse Trump of embracing “dehumanizing tropes that seem to echo Hitler’s rhetoric deliberately,” claiming that “even for an amateur historian like me, the parallels to Hitler’s rhetoric seem inescapable,” while asserting that “comparisons to Hitler or to Nazis need to take place when people are beginning to act like Hitler or like Nazis.”

Citing an apparent growing number of Hitler comparisons in the Trump era, Godwin asserts that such a phenomenon not only does not negate his law, but actually reinforces it:

Godwin’s Law is more like a law of thermodynamics than an act of Congress — so, not really repealable. And Trump’s express, self-conscious commitment to a franker form of hate-driven rhetoric probably counts as a special instance of the law: The longer a constitutional republic endures — with strong legal and constitutional limits on governmental power — the probability of a Hitler-like political actor pushing to diminish or erase those limits approaches 100 percent.

“More and more of us can see in his cynical rhetoric precisely the kind of dictator he aims to be,” he concludes.

Hours after the article was published, President Biden’s campaign released a graphic directly juxtaposing Trump and Hitler, featuring side-by-side images of both men.

This is not a coincidence pic.twitter.com/oaSDcb0yzs

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) December 20, 2023

The previous day, Biden claimed the rhetoric Trump uses “reminds us of the language coming out of Germany in the ‘30s.”

On Monday, historian and author Douglas Brinkley said Trump “has been dabbling in Adolf Hitler his whole life.”

Meanwhile, twice-failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton fueled fears that Trump will act as a “dictator” if he defeats President Biden and takes the White House in January 2025.

Last week, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the former president was “echoing” Hitler.

Last month, MSNBC contributor Claire McCaskill argued that Trump was “even more dangerous” than Hitler.

This is not the first time Godwin insisted Trump was an exception to his rule.

In 2019, citing previous examples, Rabbi and author Shmuley Boteach slammed the attorney, arguing that “though he introduced the law to prevent Holocaust-hyperbole, he’s now become its greatest living proof.”