A German man penned a viral letter to Americans comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler with the message, “Been there, done that.”
“Go ahead, vote for the guy with the loud voice who hates minorities, threatens to imprison his opponents, doesn’t give a f— about democracy, and claims he alone can fix everything,” a man under the online pseudonym “Johan Franklin,” a German living and working in San Diego, said. “What could possibly go wrong?”
The letter, signed from “the people of Germany,” concludes with “good luck” and the hashtag #beentheredonethat.
The meme created by the 44-year-old IT consultant has gotten the attention of the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling after it began circulating over the weekend.
Franklin clarified that the message from “the people of Germany” did not come from the Hillary Clinton campaign, but him. “The #dearamericans letter didn’t come from the HC campaign, but from a German. Who lives in San Diego now. Still German.”
“Thank you for all your great reactions. And I don’t just mean those who agreed with me. There are critical voices too, and I welcome that,” he added.
He wrote a follow-up message titled, “let me clarify a few things,” in which he explained his ancestry and said he “can’t speak for the entire population of Germany,” but used that signature line as a way of “overdramatizing to add emphasis.”
He also said he would vote for Clinton if he were eligible. Check out both tweets:
To America,
With love,
From Germany. pic.twitter.com/Iw87XcJTNd
— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) November 6, 2016
there is a part 2……. pic.twitter.com/NsEeq9EQ6L
— Scottie (@m_scottie57) November 6, 2016