‘Not even trying to hide it’: Trump admin social media post flagged for ‘Nazi dog whistle'

A social media post from President Donald Trump’s Department of Labor was flagged Saturday by internet sleuths for its apparent “Nazi dog whistles,” including a potential reference to the Confederacy and its questionable font choice.

Posted on Friday, the official Labor Department X account published a post depicting the Lincoln Memorial statue with 11 stars dotted around the statue’s head. Near the bottom of the image reads the text “Americanism Will Prevail,” written in blackletter gothic-style typeface, a font associated with Franktur calligraphy.

The post also includes the following text: “The fight for Western Civilization has begun – and Americanism will Prevail.”

Online critics, however, were quick to note several aspects of the post that some described as clear dog whistles.

“What a coincidence they used 11 stars just like the racist loser Confederacy, over President Lincoln’s head,” wrote X user “Patrick Skinner,” a law school student who’s amassed more than 65,000 followers.

“What a coincidence they used Germanic font like the racist loser Third Reich. What a coincidence… the Germanic font is certainly a choice. Deliberate. Gee, wonder why they went out of their way to do that??”

Similar patriotic images typically depict 13 stars to represent the original 13 colonies, whereas the Confederacy, which saw seven states seceded from the United States by February of 1861, and 11 by April of that year, is sometimes represented with 11 stars, such as on one of its “Stars and Bars” flags.

Critics were also quick to highlight the post’s Franktur font, which was used in the early Nazi period in Germany up to 1941, up until the Nazi regime barred its use, later claiming to be “non-Aryan.”

“The use of a Blackletter typeface here is chef’s kiss,” wrote X user “Martyn Schmoll,” who’s frequently shared content critical of the Trump administration and has amassed more than 5,300 followers. “The dip----- creating these memes must have the Nazi graphic standards manuals on their desks.”

Others, like X user “Gangsta Dreski,” noted the openness of the supposed dog whistles, arguing that the Trump administration staff behind the post were “not even trying to hide it.”