The “T” In Aktion T4 Doesn’t Stand For Trump— at Least Not Yet

Trump's Attitude Towards Handicapped People Should Disqualify Him

In the late 1930s Hitler decided to implement the euthanasia program, known as Aktion T4, which targeted handicapped people for extermination. Germans with physical and mental disabilities were deemed “unworthy of life” and systematically killed, part of the broader Nazi eugenics movement, which aimed to purify the Aryan race by eliminating those they considered genetically inferior.

There was some opposition but nothing to make Hitler reconsider. One of the most notable opponents of the program was Münster Bishop Clemens August Graf von Galen. In his sermons he labeled what Hitler was doing murder and a violation of God’s law. It’s worth noting that some doctors and nurses who were coerced into participating in the program were horrified by the actions they were forced to carry out and a few brave individuals attempted to sabotage the program or secretly helped patients escape.

The public and ecclesiastical opposition, actually created enough of a stir to force Hitler to officially halt the Aktion T4 program in August 1941, although, the killings continued in a more covert manner until the end of World War II, with an estimated 200,000 people ultimately being killed as part of the euthanasia program.

That kind of sickness wasn’t unique to Hitler. According to a new book, out next week, by his nephew, Fred Trump III, Uncle Donald had the same kind of reaction to handicapped people: let them die, especially if it was expensive to keep them alive. What kind of people think like that? Acting on it is surely some kind of psychological disorder— an authoritarian personality with aggression towards out-groups and a rigid hierarchical worldview, manifesting as a lack of empathy and a willingness to dehumanize those they consider “inferior” or “unworthy.”

This was a problem for Hitler and is for Trump, both of whom also showed narcissistic personality disorders— an inflated sense of self-importance, a lack of empathy, a disdain for those perceived as weak or dependent. When thinking about Hitler and Trump, psychopathy, which is characterized by a lack of empathy, remorse, and guilt, along with manipulative and antisocial behavior, needs to be right at the fore. Trump has displayed a cold, utilitarian approach to human life, where the value of a person is measured by their perceived utility to society— or to himself. Disabled individuals, being seen as less “productive,” are viewed as expendable and without value.

Dehumanization is a psychological process where certain groups of people are stripped of their humanity and seen as less than human, leading to extreme actions and policies justified by the belief that the targeted individuals are not entitled to the same rights and considerations as others. No one doubts that describes Hitler and only fools, enablers and conspirators refuse to recognize it in Trumpand his threats of mass deportations.

Let’s not kid ourselves— the comments attributed to Trump by his nephew bear an ugly resemblance to the eugenic attitudes of the Nazi regime's Aktion T4 program, both framing disabled people as burdens on society. The allegations could have significant repercussions for Trump’s standing with voters, especially those who are disabled or have disabled family members. About 26% of adults in the United States have some type of disability, which includes a wide range of conditions affecting mobility, cognition, hearing, vision and independent living. We’re talking about tens of millions of potential voters, especially when we include relatives and caregivers, who likely span the political spectrum, including Republicans. 

And that reminds me that programs like Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance and the Americans with Disabilities Act are critical for many disabled individuals and their families, and cuts to these programs or perceived insensitivity towards disabled people will certainly influence voter sentiment. In 1990 when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed (and signed into law by George HW Bush) it was opposed by the right-wing of the GOP, presumably because it included protections for people with AIDS. 23 Republicans and 5 Blue Dog Dems, some of whom who later switched parties, voted against it. Predictably, a plurality of NO votes came from Texas.