The actual line of text that ends with the words “unified Reich” is somewhat faint and difficult to read on screen. There are also other phrases scattered around the images in the video, including handwritten notes related to World War I and other text that is hard to read.

However, it’s difficult to believe that the use of this snippet of text was accidental. Not only is it featured as the video launches into claims about what will happen if Trump is victorious, but the same block of text returns a second time next to the MAGA logo at the video’s conclusion.

These words appear twice, at prominent positions in the video, in places where the camera pauses and zooms in. The inclusion and positioning of the text were clearly intentional.

There’s also an issue with the campaign’s claim that some unknown staffer posted this video. Trump has made it very clear that only he and former White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino have access to his account.

But the biggest reason to believe the use of Nazi phrasing in a Trump campaign video was intentional is because it’s part of an extensive pattern. Trump has filled his campaign rallies with phrases lifted from the writings of Adolf Hitler. That includes talking about immigrants “poisoning the blood” of the country and describing his opponents as “vermin” to be eliminated. Trump has echoed phrases from the Holocaust, modeled his “Big Lie” election denial after Nazi propaganda, and published an ad tagging his supposed enemies with a symbol the Nazis used for political prisoners.

The “unified Reich” ad isn’t a shocking example of a singular slip-up: It’s another instance of Trump’s willingness to blow a fascist, white supremacist dog whistle. This is the same man who kicked off his first campaign with a claim that Mexicans were rapists and drug runners.

The campaign video containing the Nazi phrase was deleted from Trump’s Truth Social account on Tuesday. But it did its job, as did coverage of the resulting outrage. Trump’s most faithful supporters saw the promise he intended to make, even if that promise was delivered in a way that allowed his campaign to say it wasn’t intentional. The signal was clear: This is where we’re going, but we can’t say it openly.

At least not yet.

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