" This is deeply fascist . "
A large banner of Donald Trump’s official portrait now hangs prominently on the US Department of Agriculture building in Washington, DC. It is set against text that reads, “USDA, Growing America since 1862.”
The installation coincided with the USDA’s 163rd anniversary. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollinssharedimages of the banner’s installation on social media alongside a message declaring that after 163 years, “the best is yet to come.” She credited President Trump’s “bold vision” for “ushering in a Golden Age for our farmers.”
Online, however, the reaction has been intense. Manysaythat the prominent display of the nation’s highest-ranking public figure bears anunsettling resemblanceto imagery familiar in authoritarian regimes, where portraits of leaders are used to assert dominance and remind citizens of their power. Think “Big Brother” of George Orwell’s book1984.
Historical parallels quickly followed.One example: Adolf Hitler, whose image became a symbol of the Nazi regime in similar public displays. Here it is on the UFA headquarters, a Berlin-based film company central to Nazi propaganda, for his birthday.
Or, the portraits of Stalin that loomed over Soviet streets, elevating him to an almost god-like status who is always watching — like this one in Leningrad.
As one commenterpointed out,this kind of visual dominance is also common among today’s controversial leaders. Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro have all displayed their likenesses prominently in public spaces.
The comparisons have struck a nerve online.
“Yeah right ..” one personwrotein response to Sec. Rollins’s tweet of the banner. “Different country different century but the same vibe,” they continued, attachinga propaganda poster of Stalin.
“This is deeply fascist,“wroteFred Wellman, an Army combat veteran and the host of theOn Democracypodcast, in a viral tweet.
Political commentator and MSNBC analyst Tim Milleradded, “Its interesting that these freedom loving MAGA alpha males want to institute this deeply creepy 3rd world culture where we have a national daddy that must be obeyed.”
Brian Tyler Cohen, a prominent progressive political host,wrote, “Trump is spending $92 million on a birthday military parade and plastering his face on the sides of government buildings. Washington, DC is becoming Pyongyang, North Korea.”
Not everyone finds the display troubling. Some supporters have drawn comparisons to Obama’s iconic “Hope” posters from his 2008 presidential campaign, viewing it as just another example of political imagery.
Still, those were campaign posters, not banners draped over government buildings.
