Former president Donald Trump reportedly stated his interest in having generals similar to ones who once reported to Adolf Hitler.
The Atlantic published an article on Tuesday, Oct. 22 reporting that Trump, 78, brought up the Nazi dictator during a private conversation in the White House during his presidency.
In Tuesday’s article, The Atlantic said they recently spoke with Trump's ex-chief of staff John Kelly, who corroborated alleged Hitler comments.
In audio released on Tuesday, Kelly said Trump fits the profile of a far-right authoritarian and that he believed the former president would govern as such if elected to a second term.
On CNN’s AC360, host Anderson Cooper recited part of a report from The Atlantic published Tuesday in which Trump was alleged to have previously asked why his generals were not loyal to him in the manner Hitler’s were.
Cooper then played an audio recording in which Kelly explained fascism from his perspective and how he thought Trump viewed the ideology. Kelly said:
Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy. So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America.
Kelly also told the Times, “Certainly, the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
On X, the largely unmoderated social media platform that replaced Twitter, owner Elon Musk shared a misleading post in which the Atlantic article’s headline and copy were altered to suggest that Trump was the literal reincarnation of Hitler. Even that “joke” reinforces the point: A report from a former top aide that Trump had praised Hitler is portrayed as a hyperventilating attempt to draw equivalence between the former president and the German dictator. It’s Godwin’s Law, used in defense of a guy with authoritarian aspirations.
On Fox News, a host of the channel’s morning show “Fox & Friends” attempted to defend Trump by suggesting that the former president perhaps was not “cognizant of the third rail of German generals who were Nazis and whatever.”
The bottom line, host Brian Kilmeade said, was that “Mattis and Kelly didn’t like the president and they didn’t think he deserved the job or they didn’t think he was worthy of the job.”
Kelly doesn’t think he deserves the job because Trump is a dictionary-definition fascist. But since he is critical of Trump (for being a dictionary-definition fascist), he is viewed by Trump supporters as anti-Trump and therefore his criticisms (of Trump being a dictionary-definition fascist) are necessarily invalid.
And here we are.
So, yesterday, we learned that Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired four-star general, confirmed that while Donald Trump was president, he said he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler had.
Donald Trump said that because he does not want a military that is loyal to the United States Constitution. He wants a military that is loyal to him. He wants a military who will be loyal to him personally, one that will obey his orders even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States.
In just the past week, Donald Trump has repeatedly called his fellow Americans the “enemy from within” and even said that he would use the United States military to go after American citizens.
And let’s be clear about who he considers to be the enemy from within. Anyone who refuses to bend a knee or dares to criticize him would qualify, in his mind, as the enemy within, like judges, like journalists, like nonpartisan election officials.
It is deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans.
All of this is further evidence for the American people of who Donald Trump really is. This is a window into who Donald Trump really is from the people who know him best, from the people who worked with him side by side in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room.
And it is clear from John Kelly’s words that Donald Trump is someone who, I quote, “certainly falls into the general definition of “fascist,” who, in fact, vowed to be a dictator on day one and vowed to use the military as his personal militia to carry out his personal and political vendettas.
Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable. And in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions. Those who once tried to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses would no longer be there and no longer be there to rein him in.
So, the bottom line is this. We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be: What do the American people want?
Thank you.
Vice President Kamala Harris has responded to new statements from former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly detailing Donald Trump's fascist ambitions.
"Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable," Harris said. "In a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions."
"We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be what do the American people want?" the vice president added.
At a rally in Wisconsin after Goldberg's article was published, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said Trump's comments about Hitler and his generals made him "sick as hell, and it should make you sick, too."
If Trump wins the presidential election, he said, "folks, the guardrails are gone. Trump is descending into this madness. A former president of the United States and the candidate for president of the United States says he wants generals like Adolf Hitler had."
While he hid and cowered yet again yesterday, Kamala Harris was on CNN.
Though some may forget, this was not supposed to be a town hall. This was supposed to be a debate between Kamala and Donald. But after getting his ass handed to him in their only debate, scared little kitten Donald refused to debate her again.
Erik De La Garza (RAW STORY) points out:
A town hall analysis breaking down the policies Kamala Harris was asked about Wednesday night abruptly flipped into a discussion about the inconsistencies in how the vice president and Donald Trump are being treated, with one CNN panelist declaring: “They’re not taking the same exam.”
“He gets to be lawless, she has to be flawless. That’s what's unfair. That's what's unfair tonight,” said former Obama White House official Van Jones. “They're not taking the same exam. Look, she has policies, she may not articulate them perfectly every time…but she’s fighting for actual ideas that will help real people and he’s talking about people’s penises, and so they are not taking the same exam and that’s pissing people off – it’s pissing me off.”
The moment came just after Harris wrapped up a town hall with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that was originally scheduled as a presidential debate before Trump dropped out and later refused to commit to holding his own town hall with the network.
And we see this daily, over and over. The different standards for Kamala and for Donald. Do you know that THE PROGRESSIVE put Kamala on its cover? And just posted two articles praising Tim Walz. Which is two more articles than they've bothered to write praising Kamala. You're not supposed to notice that.
Ann noted her favorite moments from the town hall in last night's "Kamala's a real leader:"
Right
on. Exactly. I'm glad I'm voting for Kamala Harris. I'm glad I'm
campaigning for her. I've never voted for a Democrat in a presidential
election before. I was raised a Green.
I've voted
for Jill Stein twice before. I am not voting for her this time. She's a
liar -- whose own adult children refuse to vote for her. She is
working to elect Donald Trump and our country cannot afford that.
I'm glad that there are people working hard and working with
enthusiasm for Kamala. She's not just better than Trump, she's a great
nominee period.
As a Black woman watching this election
cycle, I have been very disappointed in 'left' voices who have worked
overtime to tear Kamala apart.
This is a moment where we should be able to take some
pride but the Naomi Kleins won't let us, they think we need their
Whiteness wisdoms.
Right on. Exactly. I'm glad I'm voting for Kamala Harris. I'm glad I'm campaigning for her. I've never voted for a Democrat in a presidential election before. I was raised a Green.
I've voted for Jill Stein twice before. I am not voting for her this time. She's a liar -- whose own adult children refuse to vote for her. She is working to elect Donald Trump and our country cannot afford that.
I'm glad that there are people working hard and working with enthusiasm for Kamala. She's not just better than Trump, she's a great nominee period.
As a Black woman watching this election cycle, I have been very disappointed in 'left' voices who have worked overtime to tear Kamala apart.
This is a moment where we should be able to take some pride but the Naomi Kleins won't let us, they think we need their Whiteness wisdoms.
And we get that, right? Black women, we get that?
You need to check your Whiteness and you need to stop insulting Black women. We're not playing with you, Snow Princess. I noticed when you listed your Canadian notion of the US's Democratic Party base, you didn't include Black women. Rather telling, dontcha think?