Two days after former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly said that his ex-boss fits the definition of a fascist and occasionally remarked that Adolf Hitler “did some good things,” 13 more members of the Trump administration penned an open letter backing up Kelly’s claims.
“Donald Trump’s disdain for the American military and admiration for dictators like Hitler is rooted in his desire for absolute, unchecked power,” wrote the group, which includes former national security, communications and other White House staff. “This is a man who threw his own Vice President – Mike Pence – at a violent mob in a desperate bid to hold on to power.”
Politico first reported on the letter Friday.
Kelly, retired U.S. Marine Corps general, told The New York Times and the Atlantic in recent interviews that Trump “could never wrap his arms around why people would serve the country in uniform” and “admires people who are dictators.”
“Everyone should heed General Kelly’s warning,” wrote the former Trump staffers, who described themselves as “lifelong Republicans who served our country.”
Trump and his campaign have raged against Kelly. In a statement Wednesday, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “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.”
“President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women, whereas Kamala Harris has completely disrespected the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including the Abbey Gate 13,” Cheung said, referring to the August 2021 deaths of 13 members of the United States military in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Trump is in what appears to be a photo finish race against Vice President Kamala Harris, less than two weeks until Election Day. Harris has portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy, citing comments he’s made about being a dictator on “day one” and numerous promises to prosecute or punish those he considers enemies.
The Harris campaign conducted a focus group of undecided battleground state voters Thursday night. Kelly’s comments about Trump asserting that he met the definition of a fascist were viewed by them as trustworthy and nonpartisan, and some said they were now having second thoughts about supporting Trump.
In the closing days of the campaign, Harris has begun to focus on the message that compelled Joe Biden to run in 2020, that a Trump presidency poses a threat to our democracy. An internal Harris campaign poll in the last couple of weeks found that for persuadable or undecided voters, Trump’s pursuit of unchecked power was one of their top concerns, and the message that most concerned them was that those who had worked closely with him during his presidency and left said he shouldn’t be president again because of the risk he poses to national security.
Harris herself commented on Kelly’s claims during an appearance on CNN Wednesday, saying, “Why is he telling the American people now?”
“This time, we must take very seriously those folks who knew him best and who were career people are not going to be there to hold him back,” Harris said.