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Trump: Comparing voter loyalty pledge to Nazi salute ‘ridiculous’

by TheHill.com - 03/08/16 8:07 AM ET

Donald Trump on Tuesday said it is “ridiculous” to compare his request for supporters to raise their hands to pledge to vote for the Republican presidential candidate to the “Heil Hitler” salute.

“Honestly, until this phone call, I didn’t realize it was a problem,” Trump said on NBC’s “Today” show, claiming crowds are simply “having a good time” and suggesting they wanted the pledge.

{mosads}”If it’s offensive, if there’s anything wrong with it, I wouldn’t do it,” Trump insisted, saying he would “look into” criticism.

“They’re raising their hand in the form of a vote, not in the form of a salute,” Trump added on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” calling the controversy “crazy.”

Trump on Monday doubled down on his pledge by asking crowds in North Carolina and Mississippi to vow to vote for him, after having a crowd in Orlando over the weekend raise their right hands and pledge support.

Trump asked supporters to raise their right hand and pledge to support him https://t.co/h9c2NbLQMJ pic.twitter.com/X9y4KRiF81

— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) March 5, 2016

Images from the Florida rally on Saturday bounced around the Internet over the weekend, and Abraham Foxman, the former director of the Anti-Defamation League, said it was reminiscent of the salute to Hitler.

“As a Jew who survived the Holocaust, to see an audience of thousands of people raising their hands in what looks like the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute is about as offensive, obnoxious and disgusting as anything I thought I would ever witness in the United States of America,” Foxman told the Times of Israel for a story published Monday.

“We’ve seen this sort of thing at rallies of neo-Nazis. We’ve seen it at rallies of white supremacists. But to see it at a rally for a legitimate candidate for the presidency of the United States is outrageous.”

Tags 2016 GOP primary 2016 presidential election Donald Trump