Biden criticises Trump for 'unified Reich' social media video

Trump campaign deleted video off Republican candidate's Truth Social profile page 19 hours after it was posted

Former US president Donald Trump sits in a New York courtroom during his criminal trial. Reuters

Donald Trump's social media account removed a video showing fake headlines that mentioned a “unified Reich” if he wins the 2024 US election, as President Joe Biden accused his election rival of using “Hitler's language”.

Mr Trump's campaign blamed an inattentive staff member for reposting the 30-second clip, which flashed a series of fictitious news stories painting a picture of American prosperity, with one including the term normally associated with Nazi Germany.

Mr Biden released a short clip of his own on X, in which he is seen looking at his phone and appearing shocked that the offending video had appeared on Mr Trump's official Truth Social account.

“Wow. A unified Reich? That's Hitler's language, that's not America's,” Mr Biden says.

The pro-Trump video was posted on Monday afternoon and was removed about 19 hours later.

“What happens after Donald Trump wins? What's next for America?” a voice-over asks in the clip as hypothetical newspaper headlines of “Economy booms!” and “Border is closed” are shown.

One headline mentions the creation of a “unified Reich”.

No direct reference to Nazis is made in the clip, but the word “Reich” is commonly used in reference to the Third Reich of Nazi Germany.

The “unified Reich” headline appears to refer to the 1871 unification of Germany.

In a statement, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the post had no official backing.

“This was not a campaign video, it was created by a random account online and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word,” she said.

Mr Trump did not respond to questions about the video while he attended his historic criminal trial in New York.

The post comes as he has repeatedly sought to portray Mr Biden as failing to curb anti-Semitism in the US during a period of rising tension fuelled by the Israel-Gaza war.

But Mr Trump has repeatedly used racist rhetoric that carries clear echoes of Nazi ideology, including describing domestic opponents as “vermin” and immigrants as “poisoning the blood” of the US.