Republicans apologize for Trump's Hitler comments

Donald Trump's allies are trying to downplay the former president's alleged praise of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and discredit John Kelly after the former White House chief of staff made his concerns about Trump's fascist ambitions known to multiple media outlets.

This week the retired general recounted The New York Times that Trump fits the definition of a fascist and would rule like a dictator if re-elected. In a separate interview with The Atlantic, Kelly addressed previous claims that Trump expressed admiration for Hitler. Two other sources reported The Atlantic that the former president once said he wanted “the kind of generals Hitler had,” that is, “people who were completely loyal to him and followed orders.”

The bombshell coverage has revived discussions about Trump's authoritarian impulses as the election approaches. On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala publicly criticized her opponent as a man who has become “increasingly unhinged” and wants a military “that will remain loyal to him personally and obey his orders, even when he tells them to break the law.” ”

“We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants uncontrolled power. The question in 13 days will be: “What do the American people want?” Harris said.

As might be expected, Trump's loyalists got to work spouting excuses, from trying to discredit Kelly to claiming that the former president's authoritarian rhetoric was no big deal.

Trump may not have known that Hitler's generals were Nazis

On Wednesday, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade responded to Kelly's comments by claiming that Trump may not know Hitler's generals were Nazis and just wants to cut bureaucracy.

“(Former Defense Secretary Jim) Mattis and Kelly didn't like the president,” Kilmeade said, citing the memoirs of H.R. McMaster, another former Trump administration official who had warned about Trump's ties to authoritarian leaders. “I can absolutely imagine that (Trump) would say, 'It would be great if German generals would actually do what we ask of them, and maybe not be fully aware of the third rail of German generals, the Nazis or whatever always were,” Kilmeade said. “But he was frustrated by the slowdown in orders that were not being implemented.”

Trump's admiration for Hitler is closely linked to the reasons why people support him

New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu claimed that Trump's admiration for the former president is “self-evident.”

“Look, we’ve heard a lot of extreme things about Donald Trump from Donald Trump. It's kind of obvious. Unfortunately, with a guy like that, it's kind of factored into the vote at that point,” Sununu told CNN on Wednesday.

The Atlantic said Trump was “literally Hitler” (they didn't)

Right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, who has been campaigning for Trump (in possibly illegal ways) in key swing states, shared a screenshot of a fake headline that distorts The Atlantic Report on Kelly. “You're literally foaming at the mouth,” Musk wrote, quoting another X user's post with a doctored image with the caption “Trump is literally Hitler.”

On Wednesday, The Atlantic issued a press release titled “The Atlantic did not publish an article with the headline 'Trump is Literally Hitler.'”

“The fake headline is distorting Atlantic Article published on October 22, 2024 with the headline “Trump: 'I need the kind of generals Hitler had,'” the publication wrote. “Anyone who comes across these images can quickly check whether something is real – or not – by visiting them The Atlantic and browsing our website.”

The stories were spread by the Harris campaign

Bret Baier, host of Fox News' supposedly objective “news site,” suggested Wednesday that Vice President Harris was targeting him The Atlantic story as part of her final message against Trump.

“It appears that Vice President Harris is coming to terms with the former president’s threat to America,” Baier said. “You saw that Atlantic Article about former Chief of Staff John Kelly talking about how the President talked about Hitler. All of these things are brought together in this closing argument that she is making with former Congresswoman Liz Cheney.”

It's a “joke”

Fox News lead anchor Jesse Watters began his coverage of the story with a tailored intro that read, “New Hoax Alert!” with his audience.

“The Las Vegas Hoax Boss, Jeffrey Goldberg at The AtlanticTrump says he made up some nonsense; he admired Hitler. There's no record of it and everyone says it's nonsense, but the vice president, who eats fake news along with her word salads, walked into the cameras,” Watters said.

Watters further claimed that Kelly's comments were being used by Democrats as a pretext for another assassination attempt against Trump. “Within 24 hours, the highest levels of the Democratic establishment labeled Trump a Nazi who should be locked up and his throat slit. How can we have a peaceful transition if Donald Trump wins? The left says Trump is a dictator who will use the military against them. You just give him the keys to the White House and pretend he's Mitt Romney? Not only are they vilifying Trump, they are saying half the country is Hitler,” he added.

College students are the real Hitlers

CNN's token Republican Scott Jennings said during a panel discussion Wednesday that while he thinks Kelly is an “honorable” man, the real fascists in America are college students protesting massacres of Palestinians in Gaza.

If Kelly “is worried about Hitler – and he's worried about fascism – he should pick up the newspaper,” Jennings said. “Right now there are thousands of Hitlers running around this country, running through college campuses, through New York City, chasing Jewish people around and blocking their access to college campuses.”

“If you're worried about Hitler and talking about Donald Trump, maybe open your eyes and notice what's happening on the American left in this country. These are the Hitlers I’m worried about,” he added.

Kelly didn't provide enough context

Trump's closest ally at Fox News, Sean Hannity, spoke with disgraced former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday, with the two attempting to downplay Kelly's claims.

O'Reilly suggested to listeners that the report was unreliable because “Kelly hates Donald Trump.” Everyone knows that. Kelly will admit it. He hates him. Don’t want him to win.”

Hannity interjected that the reporting wasn't “new” and that Kelly had “said this before.”

O'Reilly further complained that “the conversation has no context,” as reported by The Atlantic: “Nobody knows the context. Was it a discussion about the effectiveness of the Wehrmacht in World War II? Was that the discussion? What was the discussion? Nobody knows.”

“Number two, who saw that besides Kelly? No one. OK. So you're in an area where the haters, the Trump haters are taking whatever they can get and throwing it out as fact,” O'Reilly added.

Kelly should have spoken sooner

Failed Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum told CNN on Thursday that if Kelly had a problem with Trump – and believed he was a fascist – he “could have said it when he worked for him five years ago.”

“He could have said it when he left the White House, (but) he waits until 12 days before an election,” Burgum added.