Godwin's law can be applied mistakenly or abused as a distraction, a diversion, or even
censorship, when miscasting an opponent's argument as
hyperbole even when the comparison made by the argument is appropriate. Godwin has criticized the over-application of the adage, claiming that it does not articulate a
fallacy, but rather is intended to reduce the frequency of inappropriate and hyperbolic comparisons: Godwin's law has many
corollaries, some considered more canonical (by being adopted by Godwin himself) This idea is itself sometimes mistakenly referred to as Godwin's law. Godwin rejects the idea that whoever invokes Godwin's law has lost the argument, and suggests that, applied appropriately, the rule "should function less as a conversation ender and more as a conversation starter." In an interview with
Time Magazine, Godwin said that making comparisons to Hitler would actually be appropriate under the right circumstances: In August 2017, while commenting on the
Unite the Right rally in
Charlottesville, Virginia, Godwin himself endorsed and encouraged social-media users to compare its
alt-right participants to Nazis. Godwin has denied the need to update or amend the rule. On June 24, 2018, he wrote, in an
opinion piece for the
Los Angeles Times: "It still serves us as a tool to recognize specious comparisons to Nazism – but also, by contrast, to recognize comparisons that aren't." the comparison with
fascism may be appropriate rather than devaluing the argument; a "
MAGA" corollary to the Law recognizes the pernicious embrace of Nazi-inspired tropes and phrases by the "alt-right". As an illustration, in an interview with
Politico published on December 19, 2023, Godwin pointed out that Donald Trump might actually be using Hitler's rhetoric on purpose, for instance when accusing immigrants of "poisoning the blood" of the country or calling his political opponents "vermin":You could say the 'vermin' remark or the 'poisoning the blood' remark, maybe one of them would be a coincidence. But both of them pretty much make it clear that there's something thematic going on, and I can't believe it's accidental."In an opinion published the same day in
The Washington Post, Godwin stated: "Yes, it's okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don't let me stop you." In the article, Godwin says that "when people draw parallels between
Donald Trump's 2024 candidacy and
Hitler's progression from fringe figure to Great Dictator, we aren't joking. Those of us who hope to preserve our democratic institutions need to underscore the resemblance before we enter the twilight of American democracy." ==See also==