I think there are some parallels between Trump and Hitler, and I don't think it's wrong to point this out if it's done in an analytical (and non hyperbolic) way. He's the center of a cult of personality and appeals to white nationalists and to the xenophobic fears of people who don't consciously think of themselves as racist but are still uncomfortable at the prospect of becoming one of many minority groups. He scapegoats some groups, which is something Hitler did, and decries the so-called "culture of political correctness" for the problems plaguing working class white people and Rural America.
However, the Hitler comparisons ignore the fact that US history has its own share of cults of personality, not to mention many prominent demagogues, white nationalists, xenophobes, and leaders who appealed to "law and order" while opposing immigrant groups and the emancipation of PoC, women and others.
Whether or not this turns out to be yet another temporary step backwards against a long-term backdrop of forward momentum (with regards to human rights in the US), or a step down a much darker path that leads to the dissolution of our democracy remains to be seen.
Assuming it's the former, though, it's no reason to be sanguine. The US may have survived and overcome the legacies of Andrew Jackson (and other populist demagogues), the Civil War, Woodrow Wilson's sympathy for the KKK, Internment camps for Japanese Americans, the imprisonment and abuse of suffragists, slavery and segregation, McCarthyism, and other horrible things, but that doesn't mean everyone who lived during those times survived or recovered.
The fact that history may some day look back on this as a temporary, if unpleasant, phase we went through en route to becoming a better and more inclusive, compassionate place isn't very helpful to those who will be suffering (and maybe even dying) over the next few years. Does knowing things will be okay in a decade or two help people who are suffering now?
