A Brief History of 'Lugenpresse,' the Nazi-era Predecessor to Trump's 'Fake News'
(This article was originally published on February 21, 2017 and re-upped after President Trump tweeted a spoof video of himself "beating up" CNN, which the network denounced as incitement to violence against reporters.)
President Donald Trumps go-to argument that unwelcome reports are fake news spread over the weekend to key figures in the Republican establishment, and as the vitriol ramped up, major media outlets hit back. On Friday, CNN anchor Don Lemon cut off pro-Trump guest Paris Dennard live on air, and not long after Trump tweeted, The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People! Come Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus got into a heated debate with Chris Wallace on Fox News, of all venues.
The sense of panic and anger in the mainstream media, the conservative Fox News included, is reasonable. The accusation of fake news or lying press has an ominous precedent, tracing back to the history of the German phrase Lügenpresse. (At a campaign rally in October 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio, the Atlantics Rosie Grey even caught two Trump supporters on tape using the original German word. Lügenpresse! Thats what you are, one white man shouts, coaching another on how to say the term, and elaborates: Youre all in bed with the Clintons. Youre all bought and paid for, every one of you.)
Originally coined by the German author Reinhold Anton in 1914, the term Lügenpresse was used during World War I to refer to enemy propaganda. Some 30 years later Hitler and the Nazis appropriated the term to weaken opposition to the regime, primarily accusing Jewish, communist, and later the foreign press of disseminating fake news.
The phrase made a comeback in Germany in 2014, when the anti-immigrant PEGIDA movement accused the media of not telling the truth about crimes committed by refugees and immigrants, primarily those displaced by ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In January 2015, some 25,000 protesters attended a PEGIDA march in Dresden, chanting Luegenpresse, halt die Fresse" (shut up, lying press).
"Luegenpresse" subsequently earned the notorious "Unwort des Jahres" (Non-Word of the Year) dishonor given out annually by a German linguists' panel of experts.
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Rhiannon12866
(205,341 posts)The analogies to Nixon pale in comparison. Didn't this monster ever take a history course?? Plus, he was born right after WWII so he must have heard about it!
tanyev
(42,558 posts)I think anything he ever cared to learn about Nazi Germany was more in a "how to" context.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)they were gonna develop after the election? It was gonna be "a tower of sound", her exact words.
This severe recitation of "fake news" over and over and over even in a single day, should not be taken lightly.
The Koch brothers have been inciting this stuff for years, Bannon and that Nazi Miller guy seem pretty dedicated to following history's playbook.
Edited to add: found Bannon's take on it:
"The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile, Steve Bannon told the New York Times in late January. The media here is the opposition party.
Rhiannon12866
(205,341 posts)Have any of these people ever read The Constitution?? How many have offered to provide one?? We went from being led by a constitutional scholar to this clueless oaf - and his minions - who obviously have never even taken a basic history course! Looks like they have issues with every single aspect of the First Amendment...
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Hieronymus
(6,039 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)Constantly calling legitimate news fake is right out of the playbook of Hitler and Goebbels.
Paladin
(28,257 posts)Response to Behind the Aegis (Original post)
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