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Donald Trump, the billionaire reality show star who has risen to the top of the Republican presidential field, has shared a quote from Italian fascist Benito Mussolini, a war-time ally of Nazi Germany, with his 6.45 million followers on Twitter.
"@ilduce2016: “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” – @realDonaldTrump #MakeAmericaGreatAgain"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2016
According to an article from the July 26, 1943 edition of the Ottawa Citizen, the quote Trump shared "was the motto of Benito Mussolini, which he ordered inscribed on Italy's 20-lire coin."
Trump shared the quote from an account, "@ildulce2016," that references Mussolini's official title, "Il Duce," meaning "Supreme Leader." Mussolini was also referred to on Italian propaganda posters as, "Duce del Fascismo."
Trump, a prolific poster on Twitter, has also shared content from white supremacists, including a graphic that falsely claimed African-Americans are responsible for 81 percent of white murder victims; the real number is 15 percent, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In January, Trump shared an image of his former rival, Jeb Bush, that was posted by an account with "White Genocide" in its name, a neo-Nazi reference to multiculturalism.
EXCLUSIVE: US Neo-Nazi Leader Says Donald Trump 'the Real Deal'
It's not entirely clear if Trump's problematic social media posts are the product of ignorance or intention, but either way his overtly racist campaign — referring to Mexican immigrants as "rapists"; calling for a total ban on Muslim immigrants — has won him support from the racist far-right, with a prominent neo-Nazi leader telling teleSUR that the probable Republican nominee for president "is the real deal," from a neo-Nazi perspective.
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