If you look at many social media sites, such as Bluesky, it is not uncommon to see multitudes of unhinged leftists writing off Charley Kirk as a "Nazi" or "Hitler Youth," which could be an excuse for his brutal assassination. And where does this notion of Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump in particular as well as MAGA and conservatives in general as Nazis come from? Unfortunately much of it comes from media sources. One of the culprits is Vanity Fair magazine.
On Thursday, just a day after the assassination, Vanity Fair published a story ostensibly about a documentary on the Nazi connections of German propaganda film documentarian Leni Riefenstahl. However, the not-so-subtle ulterior motive of the story turned out to be Trump as a Nazi type leader as written by slimemeister Eve Batey in "Hitler Confidant Leni Riefenstahl Always Said She Was Just a Filmmaker. A New Doc Reveals the Truth."
Batey just couldn't help herself. On her Instagram, she argued the Nazi comparison "feels especially crucial today." She inserted two paragraphs into her story supposedly about Riefenstahl that are chock full of links strongly inferring President Trump is a Nazi-type leader. Batey was too cowardly to actually name Trump in her story. Instead she performed her slimy duty by including links to stories, mostly in Vanity Fair, smearing Trump. Here are the two paragraphs in question with the links to Trump as like a Nazi themes.
Riefenstahl’s estate has a lot to teach us about the contemporary political climate. The parallels between her era and ours are striking: Even today, we see the world’s richest men prostrating themselves before an aspiring autocrat, creatives and news organizations seemingly seeking to normalize a self-proclaimed king, and various organized displays of military force. As Veiel considered Riefenstahl’s work for Hitler, he was thinking about all that too.
“There’s something between the lines which is telling us something not only about the present, but about the future,” he says. “The longing for this strongness and the contempt of weakness, the contempt of the foreigners.”
"Even today, we see the world's richest men prostrating themselves"
That link leads to this Vanity Fair story: "Trump’s Inauguration Is a Brash Display of Big Tech’s Realignment."
And who is the "aspiring autocrat?" In Riefenstahl's time it was Hitler but her link now takes you to another Vanity Fair hit piece: "Donald Trump’s Autocratic Ambitions."
"...and news organizations seemingly seeking to normalize..."
And that links to, you guessed it, more Trump in a Vanity Fair story supposedly about Leni Riefenstahl: "Shari Redstone and Paramount’s Own Mission: Impossible—Survive a Trump Lawsuit and a Billion-Dollar Merger."
"...a self-proclaimed king..."
In Riefenstahl's time that king (fuhrer) was Hitler and in our time, any guess as to who Vanity Fair labels as that king/fuhrer? " Trump Declares Himself 'King of Israel,' the 'Second Coming of God'."
"...and various organized displays of military force...
All that was lacking at that link was goose stepping as Vanity Fair went on yet another Hitler/Trump comparison: "Trump’s Military Parade—On His 79th Birthday—Met With Nationwide “No Kings” Protests."
In the second paragraph above, both links also go to attacks on Trump. The demonization permission slip that allowed the assassin and others on the left to brand Charlie Kirk as a Nazi had its genesis in places such as Vanity Fair, as this story illustrates.
