Former President Barack Obama slammed his successor, former President Donald Trump, on Thursday, following reports Trump as president at one point spoke approvingly of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Earlier this week, former White House chief of staff John Kelly spoke to The Atlantic and The New York Times about his fears of another Trump term. In separate interviews, Kelly told the news outlets he believed his former boss met the definition of a fascist; recounted how Trump wished Kelly would be “totally loyal” like Hitler’s generals had been; and said he felt compelled to speak out after Trump suggested he’d use the military to target his political enemies.
Obama brought up the reports while giving an impassioned speech in support of Vice President Kamala Harris in Atlanta on Thursday night.
“Now, I want to explain that in politics a good rule of thumb is: Don’t say you want to do anything like Hitler,” Obama told the crowd. “That’s just good political advice, but it is useful because it gives us a window into how Donald Trump thinks. And John Kelly isn’t the only one saying this. Two of his defense secretaries, people who worked for him, said the same thing.”
Obama went on to praise Kelly, a former Marine general who also served as Trump’s homeland security secretary, as a decorated soldier who in the past had never “even talked about politics because ... the military should be above” it.
“But the reason they’re speaking up is because they have seen that in Donald Trump’s mind, the military does not exist to serve the Constitution or the American people,” Obama said. “He doesn’t see being commander in chief as a solemn, sacred responsibility. Just like everything else, he thinks the military exists to do his bidding.”
Trump has denied that he made the remarks about Hitler and attacked Kelly as a “total degenerate.”
The Republican presidential nominee said in an interview earlier this month he was concerned about “the enemy within” America, referencing those critical of him. Trump told Fox News at the time he believed “radical left lunatics” could be “easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”
In Georgia on Thursday, Obama went on to say Trump’s rhetoric would not be good for the nation, asking voters to consider how a second term would benefit them.
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“How is any of that going to help you?” he asked. “We do not need four years of a wannabe king, of a wannabe dictator running around trying to punish his enemies. That’s not what you need in your life.”
“America’s ready to turn the page, we are ready for a better story,” he said.