It's worth remembering that in the thirties, Adolf Hitler was referred to by American journalists like this...
If you look back to the very beginning of Hitler's rhetoric about Jews for instance, it was all there -- the talk about extermination and vermin. He didn't spell out exactly what would happen in the Holocaust, but he gave a pretty good indication of its overall thrust. When dictators and demagogues assume power and start proclamations, it's historically been a natural reaction to say "Oh, that's just a figure of speech. They don't really mean it. It's just a way to whip up supporters." - whilst at the same time portraying the man responsible as a clown.
At a certain point however, people began to witness things that were unbelievably horrifying. I rather hope we don't get that far but with Americans like Nathan Larson feeling empowered to run for Congress, my feeling is that these are genuinely hopes rather than expectations.