Clownfall: don’t be taken in by the trick of a great dictator

I thank Adrian Chiles for drawing attention to Adolf Hitler’s chilling quote from the 1920s: “It makes no difference whatever whether they laugh at us or revile us … whether they represent us as clowns or criminals; the main thing is that they mention us, that they concern themselves with us again and again…” (Everyone laughed at Hitler in the 1920s. A century on, are we making the same mistake?, 24 April).

As a very young child, I lived through the second world war in Dublin; while Ireland was neutral, the war was nonetheless very present to us there. Like Chiles, all my life I have wondered how millions of people could have been taken in by a figure such as Hitler, with terrible consequences.

And while there may be significant differences between Hitler and a certain figure south of the Canadian border, it’s not hard to see the ploy that was advocated in the quote that so chilled Chiles being employed by the latter – and successfully, to judge by much media coverage.
David Blackwell
Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, Canada

Adrian Chiles’s column was excellent. As a liberal American, I take the danger that is Donald Trump very seriously. I, and most of my circle of contacts and friends, understand that half the electorate in the US will vote for Trump, irrespective of anything he does or any court proceeding. We find this very frightening.

I would like to think that some, if not most, liberal voters have thought this through, particularly after the 2020 election and its aftermath. It’s vital that some journalists finally have chosen to puncture the fragile facade that is the reliability of American democracy.
Gary Rintelmann
Mequon, Wisconsin, US

I have to agree that political leaders who are laughed at, such as Hitler, still have