'It's Nazi propaganda, period': Kristi Noem's DHS called out by experts on CNN
A national security analyst and former FBI special agent smacked down a Trump administration official who tried to downplay criticisms that the Department of Homeland Security has shared "nazi propaganda" on its social media channels.
Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary at DHS and current senior national security analyst for CNN, joined Anderson Cooper on Thursday night along with former FBI agent Asha Rangappa.
Cooper flagged recent DHS posts that have raised concerns of having white nationalist undertones, including one that shows "Uncle Sam at a crossroads between law and order and homeland and cultural decline."
"Now, a caption above the image reads: Which way American man? That appears to be an allusion to the title of this book, 'Which Way Western Man,' written by a white nationalist named William Gayley Simpson. That phrase has apparently become a popular meme among the far-right fringe," noted Cooper.
He shared a statement from DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, which downplayed such criticism.
"Calling everything you dislike Nazi propaganda is tiresome," the statement said. "Uncle Sam, who represents America, is at a crossroads, pondering which way America should go."
Other posts have been criticized for glorifying the pre–civil rights era, and one depicted a "white pioneer family praying while holding a baby inside a covered wagon." That image was captioned, "Remember your homeland's heritage."
Kayyem minced no words when Cooper asked what message DHS is sending with such posts.
"It's a combination of fear and nostalgia. Fear of the other, fear of an America that is going to be overrun by immigrants and caravans and whatever and people who are going to rape and loot and do all these horrible things to you. And nostalgia. This other world that existed at some stage where everyone is white and everyone is safe, and there's no diversity, no cities, and there's prairies," she said.
Kayyem insisted the posts are deliberate in their intention, as they align with Trump's immigration crackdown.
"And I really think pushing back on the DHS spokeswoman's comment is important. It is Nazi propaganda, period. It just is," she concluded.
Rangappa, who teaches about propaganda and disinformation, echoed Kayyem.
"Juliette is absolutely right. This has all the hallmarks of classic fascist propaganda, which has several features. The main one is an 'us versus them' framing. You know, this isn't Reagan's 'shining city on a hill' where everybody is welcome. This isn't the melting pot. This is, "This country is under attack — us — and we need to defend it against them," she said.