The Real Housewives of Auschwitz
Never forget that Trump is following a frightening playbook
(Instagram: Siggy Flicker)
I have never been into reality television but I know enough about media to understand that Bravo looks for hot messes to star in its Real Housewives franchise. That’s the best way to gin up controversy and ratings. In that sense, the Real Housewives shows have a lot in common with the Trump Administration. Donald Trump, who is, at heart, a reality tv showman, also knows what drives up controversy and ratings. No one is better at giving the people a circus to distract from what is really happening.
Which brings me to Siggy Flicker, whom Trump just appointed to the board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Flicker is a former Real Housewife of New Jersey, matchmaker and election denier, whose stepson Tyler Campanella stormed the Capitol on January 6th. Campanella was arrested and charged with five misdemeanors for his role in the Capitol riot. At the time, Flicker posted an Instagram photo of Campanella inside the Capitol and wrote: “I love patriots so much. Stay safe Tyler. We love you.” She added a #StopTheSteal hashtag.
For more on Flicker, please watch the short clip below:
To understand why Flicker is now in charge of our national memorial to the six million Jews and others who perished in the Holocaust, look to Page Six, where Real Housewives are typically covered:
The reality star has long been a vocal Trump supporter on social media. In December 2024, she shared a photo taken at Mar-a-Lago as she rang in the new year.
“Happy new year from the greatest president in the history of America ……DJT!!!!” she captioned a photo of herself posing with Trump.
Flicker — who is a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club — told the Washington Post last year that she visits the Palm Beach, Fla., resort three or four times a week.
She claimed it feels like “what America used to be” before the country was overrun with “jihadis” and “criminals.”
If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, you know that I was born in the former Soviet Union. I vividly remember seeing old men with numbers tattooed on their forearms. Reminders of the Holocaust, which had ended less than thirty years before I was born, were ever-present. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I was not aware of it. By the time I travelled to Auschwitz in my thirties, I was so steeped in every detail that the camp seemed almost familiar to me, as though I had already been there. In reality, it is worse than you can fathom.
The USHMM does more than just commemorate history. It runs programs dedicated to genocide prevention, including detailed descriptions of atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine today. How long before Trump’s appointees begin to meddle in this important work because it interferes with Trump’s foreign policy objectives? How long before they work to erase history in order to cover up similar atrocities happening today?
It’s not like the people Trump chose to lead the museum have reason to stand up for vulnerable populations. Aside from Flicker, Trump appointed Steve Witkoff’s son Alex to the board. Steve Witkoff, of course, is the real estate developer who is Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East and Russia. He has repeatedly attempted to sell out Ukraine to Russia during the course of his many visits to the Kremlin and has boasted of a “friendship” with Vladimir Putin, the butcher responsible for mass murder in Ukraine. The Witkoff Group, which Alex Witkoff is now running, has made billions off deals with Russian oligarchs. Alex’s brother Zach Witkoff runs World Liberty Financial, the shadowy crypto company in which the Trump family has a majority stake and which can serve as a way for foreign governments to send money to the Trump and Witkoff families without anyone being the wiser.
As the USHMM says, “There is a reasonable basis to conclude that Russian attacks on the civilian population constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.” How long do you think that factual statement will be up on its website now that Steve Witkoff’s son is there?
Trump has also appointed WABC talk show host Sid Rosenberg to the board. At Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally last October, Rosenberg lashed out at migrants, saying, “But the fucking illegals, they get whatever they want, don’t they?” He also accused every single Democrat of being “a bunch of degenerates, lowlives, Jew-haters and lowlives. Every one of them. Every one of them.” How much do you think he cares about protecting the people whom Trump wants to ship off to concentration camps in Africa?
In appointing these MAGA loyalists to the board of the museum, Trump is defiling the memory of the millions who perished in Nazi death camps. In fact, Trump — who has repeatedly accused American Jews of dual loyalties — doubled down again in a post on Truth Social: “They are all strong supporters of Israel, and will ensure we NEVER FORGET. Congratulations to all!” Trump wrote.
Never forget what? That is a question I am not sure Trump can adequately answer. On the very same day that he appointed Flicker, Witkoff, Rosenberg and others to the board, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order preventing migrants from being sent to Libya or any other third country. The Trump Administration has been planning to fly Laotian, Vietnamese and Filipino migrants to Libya as early as this week.
None of these migrants has received a shred of due process. According to court filings:
In one case, the attorneys said in the motion, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at a South Texas detention facility gathered several detainees in a room. The detainees were told that they needed to sign a document agreeing to be deported to Libya, the document said. When they refused, they were put in separate rooms, “cuffed in,” and forced to sign the document, the motion says.
As I wrote yesterday, the centers in Libya that house migrants are concentration camps. The people who are sent there have only a marginal chance of surviving. If they do, they will likely face rape, torture, and starvation. What is all the more confusing is that Libyan governments (there are plural, because the country is a failed state that is governed by warlords) have rejected taking any migrants from the United States. The State Department has refused to discuss the “details of our diplomatic communications with other governments.” All this begs the question: to which extrajudicial hellhole in Libya were these migrants going to be sent?
Like a good showman, Trump will throw shiny objects our way to keep us off balance. If we are talking about the Real Housewives of New Jersey and shock jocks, we are not talking about his trade wars, the sputtering economy and his falling poll numbers.
But take a moment to understand what is happening. Today is VE Day, the 80th anniversary of the victory in Europe over fascism. By appointing election denying MAGA acolytes to the board of a museum whose mission it is to commemorate the genocide of the Nazi regime and to warn against similar atrocities today, Trump is signaling that he takes none of this seriously.
But we should. Never forget how fascism arose in Germany. Never forget that fascists always start with their most vulnerable communities. Never forget that the first step to killing other human beings is to dehumanize them. Never forget that by the time it was over, not one German could say that his or her life was not ruined — if they were still alive to say it.
Never forget that Trump is following a frightening but well-worn playbook. And never forget that he is giving Jews who perished in the Holocaust and all who remember them the middle finger by appointing people to the board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum who dehumanize their fellow human beings and support violence as a political tactic.
Never forget any of this. And remember it the next time Trump tries to use the Jewish community to further his fascist tendencies.
Post-script: This is not a difficult message to convey concisely and it would break through on social media because Donald Trump is literally appointing a Real Housewife to run a Holocaust memorial. Where are our Democratic leaders to speak out about this? Their silence is appalling.
Further Reading:
(Photo: My bookshelf)
The Washington Post: Trump appoints former ‘Real Housewives’ star to Holocaust Museum board
The Independent: Trump picks reality show star whose stepson was charged over Jan 6 riot for Holocaust Museum council
The New York Post: Trump appoints former ‘Real Housewives’ star to Holocaust Museum board
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Country Case Studies
The Washington Post: Trump names allies to Holocaust Museum board after firing Biden appointees
Forbes: Witkoff Praises Putin As U.S. Apparently Favors Russia Over Ukraine
Sky News: Trump envoy Steve Witkoff says he has developed a 'friendship' with Putin
Bloomberg: Trump’s Go-To Broker Brings NYC-Style Dealmaking to a World on Edge
The New York Times: Secret Deals, Foreign Investments, Presidential Policy Changes: The Rise of Trump’s Crypto Firm
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Ukraine
The New York Times: The Misogynistic, Bigoted and Crude Rally Remarks Trump Hasn’t Disavowed
PBS: U.S. Jews upset with Trump’s latest rhetoric say he doesn’t get to tell them how to be Jewish
NBC News: Judge blocks deportation flight of Asian migrants to Libya
Salty Politics: Breaking: Trump is now sending people to concentration camps
Scripps News: Judge says migrants must be allowed to contest their potential deportation to Libya
What a stunning article. Thank you. 🙏
I’ve come to believe that Trump has deliberating gone out of his way to choose the most inappropriate people to head everything under the sun as a big F you to the country. You didn’t want me. You didn’t give me what I think I deserve so this is what you get. He’s saying F you to his cult too, who he wouldn’t actually wouldn’t spend 5 minutes with. Goodbye to your Medicaid and Snap and all you depended on. The joke is on you that you trusted me. He’s taking his petty revenge and it’s quite clear he doesn’t give a damn if he destroys the country and all of us to get it. My attitude is not so fast buddy. I don’t think any of us are about to throw in the towel and his day of a big F you from all of us is coming.