Nazi phrases, gaffes and other talk by Trump give Biden ammo as 2024 looms ahead

Nazi phrasing, gaffes and other "off the rails" talk by former President Donald Trump seems to be overtaking even the conversation about President Joe Biden's age.

The remarks have been uttered by Trump in the past several weeks, mostly at rallies but also in his social media posts. They've fueled ads by the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, yes, but also pushback from one-time Trump allies whose job it was to defend him.

On Wednesday, for example, a former Trump lawyer, Ty Cobb, said Trump's "off the rails" sharing on his Truth Social account of a call by another user for the "citizens arrest" of New York's attorney general and a state judge could incite violence.

Politically speaking, the comments have given Biden, who Trump and conservative media have painted as "crooked" and "confused," fodder with which to strike back at his predecessor, who polls show overtaking Biden — especially in must-win battleground states.

When Trump referred to his political rivals and critics as "vermin" this past weekend, Biden said, "It echoes language you heard in Nazi Germany in the 30s." The president added: "And it isn't even the first time."

So what has Trump said lately to draw such comparisons? Here are five areas in which Trump has sounded "off the rails."

Trump's use of Nazi phrasing

Last weekend, in New Hampshire, Trump pledged to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country." That followed Trump accusing immigrants seeking refuge in the United States of "poisoning the blood of our country." The references to vermin and the poisoning imagery, experts have said, is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda that depicted people they sought to persecute as vermin, parasites, or somehow diseased.

Use of R-rated language becoming a staple at Trump rallies

Even in an age where salty language is part of the American cultural lexicon, it's still unusual to hear profanities from political leaders in public gatherings.

But not for Trump. In his speeches, Trump has often called the indictments against him "bull----," and has said the U.S. Capitol is "looking like sh--" and has called Washington, D.C. a "sh--hole." At his Hialeah rally on Nov. 8, his warm-up acts, former TV star Rosanne Barr and eldest son Donald Trump Jr., got in on the phrasing.

Trump Jr. ripped what he called the deep state's "bull----" and held up a microphone for the crowd to chant the word.

Barr held up a jacket depicting Trump as a matador facing off against a bull. Barr ended her short speech with a shrieking scream calling on Trump, the "MAGAdor-in-Chief," to "end the bull----" and kill the "goddamn deep state."

Trump coverage Debate and rally split screen gave viewers sharp contrast between Trump and GOP rivals

Trump, at moments, has been confused, too

Trump and conservative commentators are quick to spot Biden's senior moments. But Trump has had his share of similar flubs. He lost track of cities in one rally, saying Sioux Falls instead of Sioux City, confused the leaders of Hungary and Turkey in another speech and referred to the current U.S. commander-in-chief as President Barack Obama.

Early look at 2024: Polls favorable to Trump a headache not just for Biden but for his Republican rivals, too

Trump delves again into deep state, conspiracies and dystopia

Deep state talk has re-emerged with a vengeance.

During the Trump presidency, the deep state, a vaguely defined belief that within-the-government actors and bureaucracies thwarted his agenda, mixed with QAnon fringe conspiracy theory insisting that a figure embedded within the deep state would ultimately bring its own downfall.

The 2023 version of Trump offers a darker vision in which an amorphous set of enemies takes up much of his focus, attention and time in stump speeches. Trump, for example, has stated Americans are now living in a "police state" that is persecuting Catholics and Christians across the United States and are oppressed by a "sick political class" that wants to turn America into "communist Cuba."

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Trump seems preoccupied with insane asylums — and the 1991 movie 'Silence of the Lambs'

Trump has been upping his rhetoric on the U.S. southern border and immigration in blockbuster fashion. He started by warning that as many as 15 million people have entered the U.S. illegally since the Biden administration took office, even though U.S. government numbers place the sum far lower.

He has also said that many of those who are in the U.S. now are men who arrived alone from Middle East countries. But, in recent weeks, he's stated that the migrants are actually people released by foreign governments from "prisons," "mental institutions" and "insane asylums," adding that "what's coming" across the border are Hannibal Lecters, a reference to the insane serial killer in the 1991 film "Silence of the Lambs."

"This country is going to hell," Trump said.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump gaffes, Nazi wording gives Biden a path to attack as 2024 looms