Donald Trump has centered his unlikely rise from reality television star to onetime 鈥� and potentially future 鈥� president on the idea that he鈥檚 wiser than Washington鈥檚 bumbling political class, once going so far as to label himself a 鈥渧ery stable genius.鈥�
But when it comes to one of history鈥檚 darkest moments, Trump is professing ignorance.
Facing criticism for repeatedly harnessing rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are 鈥減oisoning the blood of our country,鈥� Trump insisted he had no idea that one of the world鈥檚 most reviled and infamous figures once used similar words. The Nazi dictator spoke of impure Jewish blood 鈥減oisoning鈥� Aryan German blood to dehumanize Jews and justify the systemic murder of millions during the Holocaust.
鈥淚 never knew that Hitler said it,鈥� Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday, volunteering once again that he never read Hitler鈥檚 biographical manifesto, 鈥淢ein Kampf.鈥�
鈥淚 know nothing about Hitler,鈥� he insisted. 鈥淚 have no idea what Hitler said other than (what) I鈥檝e seen on the news. And that鈥檚 a very, entirely different thing than what I鈥檓 saying.鈥�
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Trump鈥檚 assertion that he knows so little about one of the 20th century鈥檚 most documented figures is notable for someone seeking the presidency, a role steeped in and shaped by history. But claiming ignorance, particularly when it comes to people who espouse racist or antisemitic rhetoric, is a tactic Trump has repeatedly deployed when aiming to distance himself from uncomfortable storylines.
After he was endorsed by former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke during his winning 2016 campaign, Trump insisted he had no knowledge of the white supremacist who had run for office numerous times and is described by the Anti-Defamation League as 鈥減erhaps America鈥檚 most well-known racist and anti-Semite.鈥�
鈥淛ust so you understand, I don鈥檛 know anything about David Duke, OK?鈥� he told CNN鈥檚 Jake Tapper in February 2016. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know anything about what you鈥檙e even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.鈥�
Asked if he would condemn the white supremacists supporting him, Trump said he would 鈥渉ave to look at the group. I mean, I don鈥檛 know what group you鈥檙e talking about.鈥� He continued to repeat that assertion even after Tapper said he was referring to the KKK.
Trump has also pleaded ignorance in other cases.
As he ran for reelection in 2020, Trump said he didn鈥檛 know much about QAnon, the convoluted conspiracy that alleges Democrats are involved in a satanic pedophilia ring and casts Trump as the nation鈥檚 savior 鈥� even as he retweeted accounts promoting the conspiracy.
鈥淚 know nothing about it,鈥� he said during an NBC town hall. Nonetheless, he refused to rule it out as false. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that and neither do you,鈥� he said.
It was the same when Trump was asked to condemn the Proud Boys militia group, which was key in organizing the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Enrique Tarrio and other members of the far-right extremist group have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other crimes for their part in the attack, which was part of a desperate bid to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know who the Proud Boys are,鈥� Trump told reporters after instructing the group, during a presidential debate, to 鈥淪tand back and stand by.鈥�
鈥淚 mean, you鈥檒l have to give me a definition 鈥榗ause I don鈥檛 really know who they are,鈥� Trump said of the group, which was drawing headlines at the time.
Trump has also suggested he was unaware of some of the most consequential periods of American history. At a recent rally in Reno, Nevada, Trump said he had to ask Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to define the post-Civil War era known as Reconstruction as he boasted about his growing popularity with Hispanic voters and Republican wins along the border.
鈥淭hey say the first time since Reconstruction. You know what Reconstruction means? That means the Civil War,鈥� Trump told the audience. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楪ive me a definition, governor, of Reconstruction. You said I鈥檓 the first one to win all of these towns since Reconstruction.鈥� He said, 鈥榃ell, Reconstruction: since the Civil War.鈥� That鈥檚 a long time ago. That鈥檚 pretty good.鈥�
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump 鈥渉as been very clear that he鈥檚 talking about criminals and terrorists who have crossed the border under Joe Biden鈥檚 watch. When he鈥檚 back in the White House, the United States will return to a secure border and a system that places the safety and security of Americans first.鈥�
鈥楾he most savage crime鈥�
The former president鈥檚 claims about Hitler are particularly notable given his upbringing in New York, home to one of the nation鈥檚 largest Jewish populations.
Trump has also participated in Holocaust memorial events. He spoke at a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017, where he denounced Holocaust deniers as accomplices to 鈥渉orrible evil.鈥� And he paid a brief visit to Yad Vashem, Israel鈥檚 national Holocaust memorial, where he called the Nazi extermination of 6 million Jews 鈥渢he most savage crime against God and his children.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 insistence that he has not read 鈥淢ein Kampf鈥� 鈥� an assertion he also made at an Iowa rally last week 鈥� evoked a different Hitler book he once allegedly had in his possession.
Journalist Marie Brenner reported in Vanity Fair magazine in 1990 that Trump鈥檚 ex-wife, Ivana Trump, told her lawyer that, 鈥渇rom time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler鈥檚 collected speeches, 鈥楳y New Order,鈥� which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed.鈥�
Trump told Brenner that, 鈥渋t was my friend Marty Davis from Paramount who gave me a copy of 鈥楳ein Kampf,鈥� and he鈥檚 a Jew.鈥� Davis confirmed to Brenner that he had indeed given Trump 鈥漚 book about Hitler,鈥� but it was 鈥淢y New Order, 鈥� a collection of Hitler鈥檚 speeches. 鈥淚 thought he would find it interesting,鈥� David said, adding, 鈥淚 am his friend, but I鈥檓 not Jewish.鈥�
鈥淟ater, Trump returned to this subject.,鈥� Brenner wrote. 鈥溾�業f I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them,鈥欌�� Brenner wrote.
History
Knowing basic American history is important for a president, said, Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer, who studies political history.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 need a historian as president, but certainly you want a president with a feel for some of the basic parts of American history, of world history,鈥� he said, noting, for instance, that Reconstruction was a 鈥渁 formative moment for civil rights and race relations.鈥�
In 鈥淢ein Kampf,鈥� Hitler wrote that, 鈥淎ll great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning.鈥�
Trump told Hewitt his message was 鈥渧ery different鈥� and he had 鈥渮ero鈥� racist intent.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a student of Hitler. I never read his works,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey say that he said something about blood. He didn鈥檛 say it the way I said it, either, by the way. It鈥檚 a very different kind of a statement. What I鈥檓 saying when I talk about people coming into our country is they are destroying our country.鈥�
Still, he repeated 鈥減oisoning鈥� references eight times.
Among those references: 鈥淭hey are poisoning our country. They are poisoning the blood of our country. They鈥檙e coming from all over the world. They鈥檙e coming from prisons. They鈥檙e coming from mental institutions and insane asylums. They鈥檙e terrorists. Absolutely that鈥檚 poisoning our country. That鈥檚 poisoning the blood of our country. And that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening.鈥�
Jill Colvin, The Associated Press
