In what’s likely the eeriest of countless eerie scenes at a Donald Trump rally, the former president on Saturday lamented the ugly chaos of these times while supporters raised one finger in an overhead salute reminiscent of the “heil Hitler” gesture.
Trump ticked off his imagined list of current horrors in a kind of dirge with music playing in the background.
Several supporters, some with heads bowed, stood quietly in the audience with a single finger raised above their heads. Some viewers speculated that it referred to the nationalist “America first” slogan, while others claimed it was a symbol of QAnon, which Trump is increasingly espousing. Some in the audience were employing a modified white supremacy “OK” hate sign with only the index finger extended.
Aaron Rupar, a journalist who posts clips of Trump speeches, called the scene “one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen at a Trump rally, All it is missing is passing around Kool-Aid right after.”
When Trump first became president, he was shockingly hailed with the Hitler gesture by members of the far-right National Policy Institute. Organization president Richard Spencer shouted, “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” Trump was not on the scene.
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