The once-storied Newsweek published an article on Christmas Eve with the title, “How Trump and the Nazis Stole Christmas to Promote White Nationalism.”
The author, Cristina Maza, is not an op-ed contributor but a staff writer, employed by Newsweek to cover “religion and extremism,” according to her personal website bio.
The article “reports” that “critics” say President Donald Trump’s “crusade” to reintroduce “Merry Christmas” over the more neutral “happy holidays” as the standard Christmas greeting is “part of a larger attempt by the president to define America as a country for white Christians alone.”
Maza simply agrees with those “critics” — without any real evidence, logic, or justification:
Wishing people “merry Christmas” instead of “happy holidays,” is thus in line with Trump’s decision to ban citizens of Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, critics say. It fits neatly with his refusal to condemn white supremacists when they march against diversity, and with his condemnation of athletes who protest police brutality against black men.
With this in mind, the fight to end the war on Christmas is exclusionary politics at its most flagrant.
Maza adds that “some see parallels between Trump’s speeches in front of Christmas trees and attempts by authoritarian regimes like the Nazis to manipulate popular celebrations to promote a political ideology.”
She concedes that Trump “has never advocated for genocide,” but cites “experts” who claim that “Trump’s talk about Christmas coexists with reemerging white identity politics.”