He, of course, means “pre-Trump”

The CEO of Papa John’s says the United States is becoming 19th century Germany https://t.co/yj0CIPeWBN

— TIME (@TIME) January 31, 2017

“America in 2016 is on the path to becoming what Germany was in 1867,”
…
“If you believed the wrong thing, the government attacked you. If you became successful, the government took your money,” he continues. “And if you dared go against the whims and will of society’s rulers, the government beheaded you.”
…
“You’ve got to have free markets with limited government, with the proper amount of regulation where you don’t jam entrepreneurship,”