On Feb. 20, 1933, Adolf Hitler held a secret meeting with 25 German industrialists before the federal election of March 5. President Hindenburg had appointed Hitler as Germany's chancellor on Jan. 30, and he moved, spreading terror with his stormtroopers, to consolidate power throughout the nation.

In a 90-minute speech at the meeting, Hitler warned that Communists would undermine the principles of the market economy. The dangers were so great that it was necessary for him to “gain complete power if we want to crush the other side completely.”

Hitler declared that this would be “the last election” and if he did not win, he would stay in power “by other means ... with other weapons.” The industrialists voted to give Hitler their full support, including $3 million for the Nazi Party.

On Sept. 5, Donald Trump gave a speech at the Economic Club of New York with major corporate leaders present. There were only excerpts of Hitler’s speech available on the web, but it was much more coherent than Trump’s one-hour word salad.

Nevertheless, those present applauded him, presumably because of Trump’s promise of more tax cuts. His ill-conceived plan for across-the-board (rather than targeted) tariffs should have alarmed them. They know full well that this would cause higher inflation, trade wars and general economic turmoil. Trump has finally admitted that tariffs are taxes, but, as an economic illiterate, he falsely claimed that foreign countries would pay them, not American consumers.

In their debate on Sept. 10 Trump once again called Harris a “Marxist,” and he mentioned that Vladamir Putin had endorsed her for president. Earlier this year, Putin also favored Biden over Trump: “He’s more experienced and more predictable.” That must mean that Trump is right: Biden and Harris are Marxist-Communists.

But, if Harris is a Communist, why are so many American capitalists supporting her economic plans? On Sept. 6, more than 90 corporate leaders signed a statement endorsing Harris for president. (On this list was James Murdoch, son of Fox News’ Rupert Murdoch.) This makes sense: I never heard of a Communist who wanted to give small businesses $50,000 tax credits.

The CEOs contend that Harris would offer “fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability, and a sound business environment.” They conclude their letter as follows: “The business community can be confident that it will have a president who wants American industries to thrive.”

On Aug. 26, the Wharton School of Business released a study that projected that Harris’ plans “would increase primary deficits by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years.” A separate Wharton analysis “estimated that Trump's tax and spending proposals would increase primary deficits by $5.8 trillion over the next 10 years.”

In the Sept. 10 debate, Trump countered that he went to Wharton, where, Wharton professor William T. Kelley said, wryly, that he “was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.”

Trump then boasted: “Many of those Wharton professors think that my plan is a brilliant plan.” Wharton professor Katy Milkman tweeted during the debate: “Show me any of my colleagues who say Trump’s plan is any good? I count 0!”

A Goldman Sachs report also gives the nod to Harris. Axios summarizes the results as follows: “A new Trump administration would bring a round of trade wars that would reduce GDP growth and raise prices, while a Harris victory would bring a more steady-as-she-goes economic policy.”

Goldman Sachs also predicted that “under Harris job growth would be 10,000 a month higher than if Trump wins with a divided government, and 30,000 higher than with a Republican sweep.” Please note that these capitalists side with Harris on job growth even with a Republican Congress.

We call leaders who want complete control “totalitarians,” and because Fascists give Big Business everything they want, this is clearly what Trump is. The threats are the same from both Fascists and Communists: no free press, no democracy, and general political, cultural and personal oppression. Both Hitler and Trump said that, if they win, as Trump told evangelical Christians recently, “you won’t have to vote again” because “everything will be fixed.”

The Proud Boys, who, along with other militias, stormed the Capitol and posted some pictures on one of their websites. Juxtaposing images of a decadent cabaret of the Weimar period with shiny-faced Hitler youth, they asked the rhetorical question: “Which one would you prefer to live in?”

Gier is professor emeritus at the University of Idaho. Read more on his views on Trump at nfgier.com/?s=trump. Email him at ngier006@gmail.com.