Senior figures in the American labour movement have launched a fierce condemnation of the Trump administration, accusing it of a "rhetorical shift towards white supremacy" following a series of controversial social media posts by the US Department of Labour.
Nazi Echoes in Official Propaganda
The controversy erupted after the department shared a video on its official social media channels, captioned "remember who you are, American" and featuring the phrase: "One Homeland. One People. One Heritage." Observers on X, formerly Twitter, were quick to note a stark similarity to the infamous Nazi slogan "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" ("one people, one realm, one leader").
Christopher Hayes, a labour historian and professor at Rutgers University, told The Guardian the similarity was alarming. He expressed deep concern not just about the phrasing, but "the motivation behind it, the message, the sentiment and desired outcome."
Unions Condemn 'Fascist Imagery'
Union leaders representing millions of American workers have been unequivocal in their criticism. Jimmy Williams Jr, General President of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, stated the labour department had repeatedly imitated "far-right and fascist imagery" online, adding: "When people tell you who they are, believe them."
Puneet Maharaj, Executive Director of National Nurses United, the largest nurses' union in the US, called the posts "fascist propaganda." She argued this forms "part of a broader rhetorical shift towards white supremacy that many federal departments and agencies are undergoing under the Trump administration."
The Department of Labour, when approached for comment, defended the campaign. A spokesperson said, "The social media campaign was created to celebrate American workers and the American Dream," but did not address the specific criticisms about its rhetoric.
Internal Alarm and Historical Parallels
The strategy has caused significant consternation within the department itself. One current employee, not authorised to speak publicly, described the activity as "radical and ideological," fearing it undermines trust in the agency's mission to protect all workers.
Professor Hayes drew direct parallels with historical propaganda techniques. "The whole point is to demonize the foreign worker... It’s the same thing the Nazis did," he said, explaining that such messaging erases "the other" to create a narrow, exclusionary vision of national identity.
This vision is reinforced by other department posts which frequently cite "Americanism", decry "globalism"—a term a former Jewish staffer identified as an antisemitic dog whistle—and promote claims that job gains have gone only to "native born" Americans. The department has also published AI-generated artwork depicting exclusively white male workers.
A former official lamented the transformation of the department's social media from a source of expert policy information to a platform for what they called "AI slop developed by a 23-year-old, with no discernible insights on work or workers." They concluded bleakly: "What a difference a year makes."
