Did Trump say Hitler 'did a lot of good things?'

Maya Marchel Hoff

June 27, 2024 at 11:55 p.m.·1 min read

During the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday night, President Joe Biden attacked former President Donald Trump for saying that Adolf Hitler “did a lot of good things” while talking about the violent 2017 rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia that inspired his 2020 presidential run.

This quip from Biden came while he noted that Trump said supportive things about the Charlottesville rioters, including that there were “very fine people on both sides.” Trump accused Biden of making his criticism up.

More: Presidential debate live updates: Biden, Trump end debate with accusations, name calling

Trump allegedly said this statement about Hitler during a 2018 trip to Europe to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, according to a report in the Guardian and the book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election,” by Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender.

Trump denied this comment during an interview with Bender after he left office.

According to Bender’s book, Trump’s comments came while his then-chief of staff, John Kelly, was briefing him on World War 1 history and reportedly told the former president that “you cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler. You just can’t.”

Kelly also shared this statement from Trump with CNN correspondent Jim Sciutto’s book The Return of Great Powers, published in Spring 2024.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did Trump say Hitler 'did a lot of good things?'

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