Hot new conspiracy theory: Donald Trump's 88 generals a secret shout-out to neo-Nazis

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

last updated 8 September 2016

On Tuesday, Donald Trump released a list of 88 retired generals and admirals endorsing him, and on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton countered with her own list of 95 retired generals and admirals. The dueling lists of military endorsees are pretty small compared with the 500 retired admirals and generals who signed on to an ad in The Washington Times backing Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, NBC News reports, suggesting that many service members are angry about both Clinton's emails and Trump's insults to Sen. John McCain's POW experience and the Gold Star family of Khizr Khan.

Trump's 88 generals and admirals also raised eyebrows for another reason, Lilly Maier notes at The Forward: "88 is a well-known code for 'Heil Hitler.'" As the Anti-Defamation League explains: "H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so 88 = HH = Heil Hitler. One of the most common white supremacist symbols, 88 is used throughout the entire white supremacist movement, not just neo-Nazis." So is Trump only able to muster up 88 middling former military brass, or is he dog-whistling to white supremacists? Almost certainly the latter ("The number [88] is used by ham radio operators to mean 'hugs' or 'hugs and kisses,'" too, the Anti-Defamation League notes). But it makes you wonder — in the same way Hillary Clinton coughing makes you wonder if she secretly has Parkinson's, perhaps. You can read more at The Forward.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.