Retired Marine general and former chief of staff to Donald Trump, John Kelly, is making a notable entrance into the presidential race. He claims that the Republican candidate can be described as a fascist, in particular because of his admiration for Hitler.
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In a series of interviews with various media, John Kelly issued several warnings about Donald Trump’s authoritarian leanings, less than two weeks before the November 5 presidential election.
The one who was Donald Trump’s chief of staff between 2017 and 2019 declared to New York Times that the former president “certainly preferred the dictatorial approach of government.”
When asked by the daily whether he believes his former boss is a fascist, the former advisor began by reading a definition of fascism found online.
“It is a far-right authoritarian and ultranationalist ideology and political movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forced suppression of opposition, and belief in a social hierarchy natural,” Mr. Kelly recited.
“In my experience, this is certainly the kind of thing that he thinks would work best for running America,” the former military man confirmed.
Mr. Kelly also told the media The Atlantic that Trump once told him he wanted his military personnel to show him the same respect that Nazi generals showed Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Donald Trump’s campaign denied this exchange.
“This is absolutely false. President Trump never said that,” says Alex Pfeiffer, one of the Republican’s campaign advisors.
“The enemy within”, the republicans’ hobby horse
John Kelly’s statements come as Donald Trump increases the number of speeches and interviews in which he suggests that he could use the army against his political rivals, whom he describes as “domestic enemies”.
At the same time, the billionaire is setting the table for possible defeat by raising doubts about the integrity of the upcoming election.
His speech resonates within the Republican Party.
More than half of candidates are working with their leaders to undermine public confidence in the American electoral system, according to an analysis published by the Washington PostWednesday.
Between November 9, 2022 and October 11, at least 236 Republican candidates published or amplified lies or misinformation about alleged electoral fraud.
120 candidates accused Democrats of trying to influence the election and of wanting to use Donald Trump’s legal troubles to prevent him from running.
153 Republicans also claimed that Democrats are working to register non-citizens to vote.
More than 50 of them ultimately compared the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris to a “coup.”
− With information from CNN and Washington Post
