The subject of Donald Trump’s apparent admiration for dictators came into sharp focus this week.
Although the question of Trump’s authoritarian tendencies is not new, they’ve exploded again following remarks made by his former Chief of Staff, John Kelly. In a new interview with the New York Times, Kelly said Trump, “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist”.
It follows an interview Kelly gave to The Atlantic on Tuesday. In that, Kelly confirmed reports previously made in the book, The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021. It said Trump had praised the loyalty of Adolf Hitler’s generals. Kelly said that was true. He recalled a conversation with the former President, who asked him, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?”
Kelly pointed out that some of Hitler’s generals had conspired to assassinate Hitler, but Trump allegedly dismissed this as untrue.
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Yesterday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded to the question as to whether Trump is a fascist.
“It’s one thing for some leftist group to call you a fascist,” Buttigieg tweeted. “Quite another when it’s a fellow Republican. And absolutely astonishing when it’s your own chief of staff.”
It’s one thing for some leftist group to call you a fascist. Quite another when it’s a fellow Republican. And absolutely astonishing when it’s your own chief of staff.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) October 24, 2024
Buttigieg’s tweet received over 78k likes in less than 12 hours. Predictably, MAGA followers of Trump trashed Buttigieg’s assessment, claiming Kelly is a disgruntled ex-employee. However, many others praised Buttigieg for his evaluation.
Sums it up perfectly. #VoteBlueToSaveDemocracy https://t.co/SF2BfaZKCh
— Marty Rabinowitz (@marty888nyc) October 24, 2024
True – it’s not an opponent criticizing Trump – Kelly is a Republican that worked closely with Donald. Kelly knows him well.
— Cheers-2-Wine.Com (@cheers2winecom) October 24, 2024
Others said that “leftist groups” have been saying this all along and should have been believed sooner.
Mark Esper
Of course, John Kelly is far from the only person who worked closely with Trump to sound alarm bells. Yesterday, Mark Esper, who served as secretary of Defense under Trump, said he had faith in Kelly’s assessment. He told CNN he had no reason to doubt Kelly’s “integrity and honesty.” He went on to encourage viewers to look up the definition of “fascist” and judge for themselves whether Donald Trump ticks the right boxes.
Kamala Harris
Yesterday, Kamala Harris gave a press conference in which she said, “It is clear from John Kelly’s words that Donald Trump is someone — who I quote — certainly falls in ‘the general definition of fascist.’ Who has 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.”
She warned, “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.”
Kamala Harris responds to John Kelly's comments about Trump praising Hitler:
— The Recount (@therecount) October 23, 2024
"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." pic.twitter.com/66HyRZgs8B
Last night, during a televised town hall appearance in Pennsylvania, Anderson Cooper asked Harris if she believed Donald Trump to be a fascist.
“Yes I do. Yes I do,” Harris replied.
Trump calls Kelly a “total degenerate”
Donald Trump has flatly denied and rejected Kelly’s comments. In a posting to Truth Social, Trump said, “Thank you for your support against a total degenerate named John Kelly, who made up a story out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome Hatred! This guy had two qualities, which don’t work well together. He was tough and dumb. The problem is his toughness morphed into weakness, because he became JELLO with time! The story about the Soldiers was A LIE, as are numerous other stories he told,” Trump wrote.
“Even though I shouldn’t be wasting my time with him, I always feel it’s necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH,” Trump added. “John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON!”
Many others find it harder to dismiss Kelly’s words.
If your response to Gen John Kelly, gold star father & Trump’s WH chief of staff, confirming that Trump praised Hitler & called members of our military “suckers and losers” is to defend Trump, you need to look in the mirror and realize your dishonor will live forever.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) October 23, 2024
Donald Trump said “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) October 23, 2024
As a 24-year veteran of our military, that makes me sick as hell — and it should make you sick. pic.twitter.com/vmMJF7RaC5
If you’re undecided, let’s say a retired Marine, with 4 decades in uniform, who lost a son in combat, walked up to talk just to you.
— Conor Lamb (@ConorLambPA) October 22, 2024
Wouldn’t you want to listen?
That’s John Kelly. He’s no Democrat. And he’s telling you, Trump wants “the kind of generals that Hitler had.”
“You can take what John says to the bank,” Amb. John Bolton says regarding the denials and new interviews from Gen. John Kelly. “If John says that Donald Trump said them, then I believe them implicitly.” pic.twitter.com/zLRAxMr5wq
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 23, 2024
Marine General John Kelly was Trump’s Chief of Staff.
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 23, 2024
Mike Pence was Trump’s VP.
Mark Esper was Trump’s Sec of Defense.
Bill Barr was Trump’s AG.
John Bolton was his NSA.
This isn’t the “liberal media” saying these things. It is Donald Trump’s own most senior appointees. pic.twitter.com/93GRIlpDkK
RelatedVance also revealed his detailed plan to bring peace to Ukraine.Buttigieg 1-Boebert 0
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