Godwin Cancels Godwin's Law

An internet meme is "cancelled" by current events, and by its author.

I’ve long thought that Trump and the MAGA-right wing in the United States are intent on ushering the United States into fascism (if they haven’t done so already). But I have generally also resisted the temptation to make the obvious comparisons to Nazis or Hitler, as that tends to shut down dialogue (to the extent there is any possibility of real dialogue between the Right and the Left these days). In the back of my mind was the phrase known as “Godwin’s Law” (originally called “Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies”), an internet meme coined by one Mike Godwin back in 1990.

Well, in an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Godwin himself now proclaims that “it’s okay to compare Trump to Hitler.” Says Godwin:

“[W]hen people draw parallels between Donald Trump’s 2024 candidacy and Hitler’s progression from fringe figure to Great Dictator, we aren’t joking. Those of us who hope to preserve our democratic institutions need to underscore the resemblance before we enter the twilight of American democracy.

“And that’s why Godwin’s Law isn’t violated — or confirmed — by the Biden reelection campaign’s criticism of Trump’s increasingly unsubtle messaging. We had the luxury of deriving humor from Hitler and Nazi comparisons when doing so was almost always hyperbole. It’s not a luxury we can afford anymore.”

Screenshot from the Dec. 20, 2023 digital edition of The Washington Post. (Michelle Kondrich/The Washington Post; photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post; AP)

Godwin’s Law has thus been cancelled — and I don’t mean “cancelled” in the “cancel culture” kind of way. It has been cancelled in the way that a law is repealed or overturned: it is no longer in effect, and it is no longer relevant. When a former President of the United States uses language derived from Hitler’s Mein Kampf — and denies having read the book at the same time that he doubles down on repeating the language in question — can there be any doubt where he hopes to lead us?

This is not the first time Mike Godwin has publicly recognized that his “law” no longer holds true. Back in 2017, referring to the white nationalist rioters in Charlottesville, Virginia who Trump later suggested were “very fine people,” Godwin also made a public statement making it quite clear that his so-called “law” should not inhibit comparisons with Nazis.

So let’s not be afraid to call a Nazi a Nazi. The stakes for what remains of democracy are too high to do otherwise.