The Third Reich, which does not even exist anymore, does not have an exclusive claim to avian iconography.
How many times do we need to go over this?
USA Today affixed an editor’s note this week to an enormously embarrassing “fact check,” clarifying that the North American bald eagle featured on a Trump 2020 campaign shirt is not actually similar to the Nazi Reichsadler.
The article, originally titled “Fact check: Trump campaign T-shirt design similar to Nazi eagle,” now has a note that reads, “This story has been updated to reflect further reporting and analysis. The rating has been changed to inconclusive.”
USA Today’s original ruling claimed: “The claims that a Trump campaign T-shirt uses a symbol similar to a Nazi eagle is TRUE, based on our research.”
However, the ruling now reads, “The U.S. government has many uses of eagle imagery in its official seals and emblems including on the ‘Great Seal of America,’ on the presidential seal and on the mace of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Trump campaign’s T-shirt includes the use of an eagle that some claim bears resemblance to a Nazi eagle.”
It adds, “We rate the claim that the Trump campaign is using Nazi imagery as INCONCLUSIVE, based on our research.”
The President of the United States is campaigning for reelection with a Nazi symbol. Again.
On the left: an official Trump/Pence “America First” tee.
On the right; the Iron Eagle, the official symbol of the Nazi party.
⁰It’s not an accident. Bigotry is their entire brand. pic.twitter.com/mSOBxwf7Wa— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) July 1, 2020
What on earth? Was the original version of this USA Today article written by a fact-checker who had never visited the United States? Seriously, it is one thing for “resistance” lunatics to peddle this Nazi paranoia on social media, but what is USA Today’s excuse for giving oxygen to this anti-Trump fanaticism?
The bald eagle, which is found only in North America, became the national bird of America approximately 238 years ago, long, long before the rise of the Third Reich. As the official bird of the U.S., the bald eagle features prominently on many official seals, including the Seal of the United States. The bald eagle is also found on the crests of multiple federal and state agencies.
The United States Marine Corps emblem incorporates a globe, an anchor, and the bald eagle. The United States Navy emblem features an anchor and a bald eagle. The United States Army emblem features the bald eagle. The United States Air Force emblem features the bald eagle. The Mace of the Republic features the bald eagle. The Seal of the Speaker of the House features the bald eagle.
“The founding fathers made an appropriate choice when they selected the bald eagle as the emblem of our nation,” John F. Kennedy remarked in 1961. “The fierce beauty and proud independence of this great bird aptly symbolizes the strength and freedom of America.”
Put as plainly as possible, there is nothing controversial or even remotely crazy about an incumbent president’s campaign selling merchandise that incorporates imagery of the bald eagle. The bald eagle has been a proud, American symbol since its designation as the national bird in 1782.
Lastly, because it evidently needs to be said, the eagle depicted by the Third Reich is not a bald eagle, which, again, is found only in North America. Nazi crests and emblems featured the golden eagle specifically, which they took from the Weimar Republic, which took its imagery in turn from the Holy Roman Empire, which took its imagery in turn from the Roman Empire, and so on.
The very online anti-Trump “resistance” journalist-activists who promote this nonsense really need to get out more often. Maybe they could even read a book or two. Who knows? They may learn something.
