US Department of Education in a Fix: Employee Posts Video Comparing Trump to Hitler - Sarmad
In a blunder that sparked widespread criticism on social media platforms, the U.S. Department of Education posted a video that appeared to compare President Donald Trump with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, before quickly deleting it.
Officials clarified that an employee had used a viral clip from the film “Darkest Hour” without understanding its historical context.
Specifically, the official U.S. Department of Education account on the “X” platform posted a clip featuring a scene from “Darkest Hour” (2017), a biographical film about former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s leadership of his country during World War II.
In the clip, Churchill, portrayed by actor Gary Oldman, is heard saying, “You cannot negotiate with a tiger with your head in its mouth.” The video then transitions to a montage of clips featuring Trump.
The department accompanied the post with the phrase “Nobody does it like us,” alongside a tiger emoji.
However, the phrase in the scene carries a different meaning, as the “tiger” Churchill refers to in the film is Hitler, in the context of his rejection of a proposal to negotiate with the Nazi leader.
This sparked widespread controversy, with users on the “X” platform pointing out the irony and questioning whether the department was aware that using the scene, followed by clips of Trump, could be interpreted as likening the U.S. president to Hitler.
Content creator Matt Ryan, an official at the Democratic National Committee, wrote, “The tiger referred to here is Hitler, by the way.”
The controversy did not end there, as the “X” platform added a note to the post, including a longer version of the film scene, clarifying that the “tiger” Churchill speaks of is Hitler. Shortly after, the Department of Education deleted the post from its account.
Notably, the deletion comes as the Trump administration faces repeated criticism over certain posts, images, and videos published on social media, particularly AI-generated content.
Earlier this year, Trump faced criticism, including from Republican figures, after he posted a video on his platform “Truth Social” depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama as monkeys. The video was later deleted, without Trump offering an apology.
Nevertheless, the U.S. president continues to occasionally post AI-generated content, including dozens of memes attacking his political opponents and highlighting what he describes as his achievements.
