Trump Used A Fake Gandhi Quote On Instagram To Make America Great Again (Bernie Used It Too)

Trump Used A Fake Gandhi Quote On Instagram To Make America Great Again (Bernie Used It Too)

Have you ever heard the phrase, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”? It’s often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, but he actually never said that. Someone should tell Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump sent out a tweet and an Instagram photo with himself on stage and the fake Gandhi quote imposed underneath. Many people were outraged — indignant that Trump would invoke the words of such an iconic figure. But people should probably be a little more angry that this quote keeps getting passed around as Gandhi’s.

Trump Used A Fake Gandhi Quote On Instagram To Make America Great Again (Bernie Used It Too)

So who actually said “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”? Some have traced early versions of this quote to an American labour organiser named Nicholas Klein. He was making a speech at a convention in 1918:

First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you. And that, is what is going to happen to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.

I realise that fact-checking Donald Trump is a pretty futile effort. But let’s at least fact check the people he’s quoting. Because as Donald Trump once said, “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” Or was that Mussolini?

It looks like Bernie Sanders used the same fake quote back on 31 July 2015 as well. These guys really need to do a simple Google search before using these things. (h/t John Bowman)

Trump Used A Fake Gandhi Quote On Instagram To Make America Great Again (Bernie Used It Too)

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