No, Americans in 2016 are not living in Nazi Germany. Yet somehow, critics of the media outlets covering this year’s presidential election have turned to 1930-era terminology to voice their distaste for the press and its coverage of Donald Trump.

https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/789985264282271744

The German word Lügenpresse stands for “lying press” and has a reportedly “ugly history” in Germany where it was once used by the Nazis to discredit the press.

Trump supporters, however, have begun to use the term #LugenPresse online and at rallies where the Republican presidential candidate has criticized the media in light of recent stories about a number of women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct. Trump has described those stories as “fabricated” and “orchestrated allegations” by his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and the media.

In a more vague but sinister criticism of the press, Trump supporters have also started using the hashtag #TheList and photos of an X over the face of journalists whom they deem as “misleading the American public.”

https://twitter.com/RealSKennedy/status/790451802399531009

The two hashtags are just the latest examples of the heated rhetoric emerging in the presidential election, mostly coming from Trump and his supporters in the so-called alt-right. At one recent rally, Trump supporters left behind a handmade sign bearing the word “media” next to a swastika. Other people have used anti-Semitic death threats against some journalists covering the election.

Just last week, Politico reporter Hadas Gold reportedly received a distressing photo of herself with a gunshot wound superimposed over her forehead and a yellow star with the word “Jude,” which Nazis used to label Jews. More recently, National Review writer David French penned a column describing the abuse he and his family have received from “Trump’s alt-right trolls.”

“I saw images of my daughter’s face in gas chambers, with a smiling Trump in a Nazi uniform preparing to press a button and kill her,” French wrote. “I saw her face photo-shopped into images of slaves.”

The conversation around these two hashtags has compelled others to push back with criticism of Trump, the Republican Party and alt-right websites like Breitbart News, whose chairman Stephen Bannon now runs the nominee’s campaign. Some have made an attempt to undermine the hashtag via sarcastic twists.

https://twitter.com/LHGraham27/status/790590455239045121

https://twitter.com/KristineSostar/status/790635476633944064

https://twitter.com/cdashiell/status/790594776882028544

https://twitter.com/derekchad/status/790434803988389888

https://twitter.com/bethmorgan/status/790643183604551680

https://twitter.com/terminalmage/status/790640159817601025

https://twitter.com/TysonsEngineer/status/790609345004335104

Disturbing trend or temporary annoyance? You tell us what you make of these hashtags. But hurry, Election Day is almost here and they may become irrelevant after Nov. 8.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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