Trump is a ‘fascist’ who praised Hitler, former chief of staff claims
Donald Trump once admired the work of Adolf Hitler and “certainly prefers the dictator approach to government”, his former chief of staff has claimed in comments that are set to shake the former president’s re-election campaign.
Describing his ex-boss as lacking empathy and fitting “into the general definition of fascist”, John Kelly said that he had witnessed Trump praising the Nazi Germany dictator on more than one occasion.
Mr Kelly, who was the White House chief of staff between 2017 and 2019, alleged: “He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too’.”
The Trump campaign immediately denied the claims.
The statements from the retired US Marine general were the latest in a series of warnings from former aides who have raised concerns about how Trump would govern if he returned to power following the November election.
‘Fascist to the core’
Earlier this month, Mark Milley, a retired general, branded Trump a “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country”.
Gen Milley served for over a year as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump before continuing in the position under Joe Biden, the US president.
But Mr Kelly’s language is among the strongest given his position. Few top officials spent more time behind closed doors in the White House with Trump than his longest serving chief of staff.
“Looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-Right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterised by a dictatorial leader, centralised autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy,” Mr Kelly told The New York Times.
“So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that [Trump] thinks would work better in terms of running America... He certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.
“He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.”
He told The Atlantic that Trump had wanted loyal military leaders, the “kind of generals Hitler had”.
Mr Kelly claimed that Trump told him during a private conversation at the White House when he was president that he wanted “people who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders” .
“Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?” Mr Kelly said he had asked Trump.
“I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’
“I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a plot against Hitler.”
‘Deeply troubled’
Kamala Harris seized on Mr Kelly’s comments. she said: “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.
“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 criticise him would qualify in his mind as the enemy within — like judges, like journalists, like non-partisan 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.
“It is clear from John Kelly’s words that Donald Trump is someone who, I quote, ‘certainly falls into the general definition of fascists.’”
“Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrail against his propensities and his actions.”
“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?”
‘Absolutely false’
Alex Pfeiffer, Trump’s campaign adviser, said the exchange never happened.
“This is absolutely false. President Trump never said this,” Mr Pfeiffer said.
Mr Kelly also repeated in media interviews published on Tuesday his previous allegation that Trump had privately called soldiers injured or killed in combat “losers and suckers”.
Responding to the allegation, Steven Cheung, the communications director of the Trump campaign said it was Ms Harris, who had disparaged veterans.
“John Kelly has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated because he failed to serve his president well while working as chief of staff and currently suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Mr Cheung said.
Asked by The New York Times whether Trump had any “empathy,” Mr Kelly answered “no”.
Kamala Harris, reacting to Mr Kelly’s claims, said it showed how Trump had become “increasingly unhinged and unstable”.
In a televised press conference, Ms Harris warned that “people like John Kelly” would not be around during Trump’s second term “to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses”.
“We know what Donald Trump wants; he wants unchecked power,” Ms Harris said. “The question in 13 days will be, what do the American people want?”
Just two weeks from the election, polling in the battleground states show that the race remains incredibly tight, as Ms Harris and Trump both aim to win in the Sun Belt.
A newly released Washington Post-Schar School poll showed that Ms Harris and Trump were statistically deadlocked in each of the seven swing states, where the former president once dominated.