Trump Channels US White Supremacists in Attacking Angela Merkel

Donald Trump's constant attacks on German chancellor Angela Merkel in his campaign speeches have not gone unnoticed in the German media:

"Am Ende bekam auch die deutsche Kanzlerin ihr Fett weg, was inzwischen zum Standardrepertoire Trumps gehört. Er warf der demokratischen Präsidentschaftskandidatin Hillary Clinton vor, zu „Amerikas Angela Merkel“ werden zu wollen, und bezeichnete deren Politik der „massiven Einwanderung“ als „Desaster für Deutschland und das deutsche Volk“. Trump behauptete, die Kriminalität in Deutschland „ist auf ein Niveau gestiegen, dass niemand glaubte, jemals zu erleben“. Amerika hätte genug eigene Probleme und müsste sich nicht noch mehr davon einhandeln, meinte Trump im Hinblick auf die Bereitschaft Obamas und Clintons, mehr syrische Flüchtlinge aufzunehmen."

What is perhaps less well known in Germany is that Trump gets his talking points concerning Merkel from white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in the US who demonize the chancellor as a "traitor to white people":

But there is at least one group of Americans well familiar with Merkel, her immigration policies, and her connections to Hillary Clinton: white supremacists.

To white nationalist communities that fervently support Trump, Merkel has been a popular villain. Sites like the Daily Stormer, the White Genocide Project, American Renaissance, and The White Resister have posted constantly about her since the Syrian refugee crisis began escalating earlier this year. They have accused her of making a “deliberate attempt to turn Germany from a majority White country into a minority White country.” They have called her a “crazy childless bitch,” “Anti-White Traitor,” and “patron saint of terrorists.” They have asked in articles about her, “Why would you allow a woman to run a country, unless you were doing it as a joke?”

This is an about-face for Donald Trump, who just a year ago had nothing but effusive praise for Merkel.  That, of course, was before he decided to make bigotry and racism the cornerstones of his campaign for the White House.