Once again, it's Springtime For Hitler in the Trump administration.

During a State Dept. briefing this week, former Fox News bobblehead Heather Nauert cited the D-Day invasion as an example of our "very strong" relationship with the government of Germany.

"Looking back in the history books, today is the 71st anniversary of the speech that announced the Marshall Plan. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the D-Day invasion. We obviously have a very long history with the government of Germany, and we have a strong relationship with the government of Germany," she said.

Does she really not know which side we were on? She worked for Fox, so it's possible.

But the briefing goes downhill from there.

Ambassador Richard Grenell was recently condemned by German officials when he told Breitbart he was "excited" by the rising wave of conservatism in Europe, and said he saw his task as "empowering" Europe's far-right governments and leaders.

Andreas Nick, a German lawmaker, said Grenell's remarks were offensive.

"If you translate 'awakening' and 'empowering' in this context, very ugly German language comes up, which resonates with the 1920s and 1930s," he said, adding that Grenell would "be well advised" to learn more about German history "and the sensitivities that result from that."

Then a reporter brought up Nauert's recent remarks that ambassadors have "freedom of speech."

"Don't we all?" she retorted. "Don't we all, as Americans, have the right to freedom of speech?"

The reporter pointed out that an ambassador occupies a position where his words affect the country he represents, and the country in which he is based. "When he says he will intervene in elections to see that certain ultra-conservative groups are elected..."

Nauert denied that Grenell said it.

The reporter said it was a "direct quote." Nauert denied it again, and said it was out of context.

So here's the exact quote:

“I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders. I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left.”

He also said, “Look, I think Sebastian Kurz is a rockstar. I’m a big fan.” (Austrian Chancellor Kurz is a big fan of Vladimir Putin -- and a major opponent of immigrants. At least for now, Israel boycotts Kurz's Freedom Party due to its neo-Nazi past and xenophobic rhetoric.)

If you don't read the European right-wing press, you may not understand that they serve the same function as Fox News with a constant barrage of (frequently fabricated) stories about white women raped by immigrants, etc. Those hysterical stories are then fed into the right-wing movement here, and used to drum up support for Trump.

And so it goes. We send a neo-Nazi to Germany as ambassador, and we use a former Fox bobblehead to lie and obfuscate about it.