(Headline USA) President Joe Biden believes former President Donald Trump is a “fascist,” according to White House press secretary Karine Jean–Pierre.
Jean–Pierre was asked during a press briefing on Wednesday about a viral New York Times story that accused Trump of making private comments admiring Adolf Hitler.
Asked whether Biden would agree with Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly that Trump’s comments make him an aspiring fascist, Jean–Pierre responded, “I mean, yes.”
Jean–Pierre then proceeded to resurrect warmed-over leftist talking points that factored heavily into the campaign strategy when Biden was still the candidate—prior to the two assassination attempts on Trump, which drove calls for politicians to lower the rhetorical temperature.
“The former president has said he’s going to be a dictator on Day 1,” she claimed, taking out of context a remark Trump made about using the presidential power of executive orders to undo Biden’s disasterous economic, immigration and energy policies.
“We cannot ignore that. We cannot,” she continued. “And we cannot ignore or forget what happened on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Kelly, who was fired by Trump, told the Times that Trump was at least “in the far-right area,” and that he was “certainly an authoritarian” who “admires people who are dictators.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also ran with Kelly’s comments this week, likewise denouncing Trump as a “fascist.”
“I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of the United States of America,” she said during a town hall on Tuesday, adding that Americans deserved a president who maintains “certain standards,” which include “certainly not comparing oneself, in a clearly admiring way, to Hitler.”
The Trump campaign dismissed Kelly’s comments as “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.”
THE REAL JOHN KELLY
Here’s what a knowledgeable former White House staffer just texted me about John Kelly and his disastrous time as chief of staff:
“The irony of John Kelly claiming Trump was dictatorial is almost too rich to digest. He personified a Napoleon complex in all…
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) October 24, 2024
For his part, Trump has argued Harris is the true wannabe authoritarian, warning that her election would mean the end of the country.
“Comrade Kamala sees that she is losing, and losing badly, especially after stealing the Race from Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“So now she is increasingly raising her rhetoric, going so far as to call me Adolf Hitler, and anything else that comes to her warped mind,” he continued. “She is a Threat to Democracy, and not fit to be President of the United States — And her Polling so indicates!”