Historically, the burial grounds of famous dead leaders have always been popular tourist destinations. Ancient Romans traveled to Egypt and gawked at the Pharoah’s pyramids and mummified remains. Julius Caesar visited the tomb of Alexander the Great in 48 B.C., paying homage to the legendary conqueror. (Weirdly, nobody remembers the location of Alexander’s tomb anymore: It’s been completely lost to history. Isn’t that strange? One day, it’s a top tourist attraction; the next, it’s just gone. It would be like everyone forgetting where Disney World is.)
Today, over a million people visit Napoleon’s tomb in Paris each year. As you slowly approach his crypt, Napoleon’s words are etched above the staircase: “I want my ashes to lie on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people I have loved so well.” His tomb took decades to build and is an absolutely magnificent work of art: “The sarcophagus, sculpted in blocks of red quartzite, is placed on a green granite base. At the back of the crypt stands a statue of Napoleon I dressed in his imperial robes.”
And within are the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Only not all of him.
Because part of him, it seems, currently resides in New Jersey. A urologist named John K. Lattimer purchased a very small, very specific portion of Napoleon’s anatomy in 1977, about 50 years after it was proudly displayed(!) at New York City’s Museum of French Art. Wikipedia has an entire page dedicated to the trials and tribulations of its globetrotting journeys.
Isn’t that kind of disturbing? It would be like some random shlub in London owning a “part” of George Washington’s body. It’s creepy.
But it does prove a point: As crazy as today’s culture seems, it’s always been wacky! Even before baseball was invented, there’s never been a shortage of historic curveballs. Weirdness is just par for the course.
Probably because humans are weird. Always have been; always will be. Our history and our culture reflect this weirdness.
And our current foray into cultural weirdness brings us to the latest line of attack against President Trump: Have you heard? He’s no longer “literally Hitler.” (Puh-leaze! That’s so 2024!) Nah, today’s he’s “literally Napoleon.”
All because of a post on X:
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 15, 2025
“Oh, la vache!”
There’s no record of Napoleon ever saying what Trump wrote, but a 1970 movie about Napoleon included a line of dialogue where the Frenchman protested that he’s not an usurper: “I found [the crown] in the gutter, and I picked it up with my sword, and it was the people … who put it on my head. He who saves a nation violated no law.”
So there you go: Proof positive that Trump is actually Napoleon.
The media drumbeat went exactly as you’d expect:
Time: President Trump Suggest He’s Above the Law in Social Media Post Invoking Napoleon
The Independent: Trump suggests he’s above the law with ominous Napoleon quote
The Guardian: Trump under fire for likening himself to Napoleon amid attacks on judges
Newsweek: Donald Trump’s Post Sparks Napoleon and ‘Dictator’ Comparisons From Critics
MSNBC: With Napoleonic statement, Trump targets the rule of law in a radical new way
Daily Mail: Trump speaks fierce criticism after channeling Napoleon with quote suggesting he is above the law
Time Magazine worked the hardest to connect the dots, pointing out that Trump’s admiration of the diminutive Frenchman goes all the way back to 2013. See, a few years before Trump ran for president, he tweeted this (please sit down, this is shocking):
“Ability is nothing without opportunity.” - Napoleon Bonaparte
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2013
Aha! Proof that Trump is literally Napoleon! (What else could it mean?)
Of course, to most sane observers, a post on X with the words “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” coming from a president who’s been subject to the most ridiculously, transparently partisan legal attacks, lawfare, and judicial interference is pretty self-explanatory: Trump’s post was about today, not a 55-year-old movie that nobody remembers.
But that won’t stop the mainstream media, Never Trumpers, and radical left from trying. Check out our old friend Bill Kristol on Bluesky:
Donald J. Trump just posted this on X: He who saves his Country does not violate any Law. We're getting into real Führerprinzip territory here.
— Bill Kristol (@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Silly Billy! Stop using the old, tired German trope! Haven’t you heard: We’re not doing that anymore. Today, Trump is Napoleon. Get with the program!
Not that it matters. Look, if the Democrats couldn’t convince Americans that Trump was Hitler, they’re not going to be successful in pivoting to Napoleon. Hitler is still our cultural embodiment of evil, whereas Napoleon’s legacy is far more... nuanced. Like, I couldn’t imagine Bill and Ted going back in time and taking Hitler to an ice cream shop:
All the Democrats have left is name-calling and character assassinations. And with all due respect to Le Petit Caporal, Napoleon is no Hitler.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member