Amid new reports that Donald Trump admires Adolf Hitler and fascism, the president’s former national security adviser all but said the Republican candidate is not a fascist.
But that wasn’t a compliment. (Watch the video below.)
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, John Bolton said President Trump is too lazy and stupid to handle political philosophy.
“I think it’s a mistake to get caught up in the debate about whether Trump meets the definition of a fascist,” he told the news network’s Kaitlan Collins. “I think his actions alone are problematic enough. To be a fascist you have to have a philosophy. Trump doesn’t have the ability to do that. As you know, Adolf Hitler wrote a deeply problematic book called Mein Kampf. “Donald Trump couldn’t even read a book like that, let alone write one.”
He added, “I do not mean to underestimate the dangers of the Trump presidency.” “I think it’s important to focus on the risk itself.”
Collins broached the topic, following in the footsteps of Trump’s former chief of staff, Ret. Gen. John Kelly told the New York Times that President Trump “prefers a dictator approach” and meets the definition of a fascist.
In The Atlantic, Kelly said Trump asked him why he couldn’t be more like “Hitler’s general” in terms of absolute loyalty. The article also revisited Kelly’s claim that Trump told him “Hitler did a good thing.”
