The View hosts talked about former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly's interview with The New York Times, with Joy Behar attacking former President Donald Trump's language and likening it to that of Adolf Hitler.
"How many times do we have to hear him [Trump] refer to immigrants as animals and Hitler called for cleansing Germany of all those parasites, referring to immigrants. And he called Jews lice, and this guy Trump calls people vermin," Behar said. "It's the same language that Hitler used."
Kelly, White House chief of staff during Trump's administration, says the Republican presidential candidate prefers a "dictator approach" to governing, calling Trump a "fascist" who praised Hitler in Kelly's presence.
The former Trump official stated he witnessed the former president praising Hitler, the Nazi dictator, multiple times, claiming Trump told him, "Hitler did some good things."
"If people still follow this fascist pig, then I don't know what else to say," Behar said. "He's willfully ignorant at this point. It absolutely crossed the line for me."
In a statement emailed to Newsweek, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung claimed Kelly's observations about the former president had been "debunked."
"John 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," Cheung said.
Co-host Sunny Hostin said while many individuals hear the terms "Marxist" and "fascist," they often struggle to understand the differences between a fascist government and a democratic one.
Marxism critiques capitalism and advocates for a classless society achieved through the revolutionary overthrow of capitalist systems, emphasizing the role of class struggle in societal development. Marxists typically seek to establish a socialist state where the means of production are owned collectively, aiming for the eventual establishment of a communist society.
A fascist is someone who supports or advocates for fascism, a far-right, authoritarian political ideology characterized by dictatorial power, extreme nationalism, suppression of dissent, and strong regimentation of society and the economy. Fascists often emphasize the supremacy of the state or nation over individual rights and promote a centralized government led by a dictatorial leader.
"Our government, this democracy, is for the people, by the people, of the people," Hostin said, referring to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. "And it's about freedom—freedom to love who you want to love, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom to protest. It's the exact opposite of fascism."
Co-host Sara Haines said many people frequently question Trump's admiration for dictators, emphasizing our military, particularly the four-star generals, represents the strongest among us.
"We often kind of prognosticate that it's a strength," Haines said. "He wants someone that has all the power, that's in charge, and right now he's pandering that same idea to men, because right now he's certain he's hunting them for the male vote."
Haines continued, "Trump is the sign of weakness. He cannot laugh at himself. Anybody that critiques him. He has nothing to say. He never served. He's never do manual labor. I actually never fact checked that, but that is a man that speaks about people who work in a way that he's absolutely never lifted things with his own hands."
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Kelly, once highly regarded by Trump's West Wing staff as a steadying force, is now being criticized by Trump's defenders, who are prioritizing political loyalty over respect for a four-star general.
"So many former senior military officials who directly served under Donald Trump, and senior officials, like myself, are warning about his character, his infidelity to the Constitution, how he views our military," Farah Griffin said. "And I want to shake people and be like, how, why are you not believing us."
The former White House official and Director of Strategic Communications under Trump, expressed she wished she could support the Republican candidate.
"I would have loved nothing more than for Donald Trump to actually have turned out to be a Reagan-esque figure who believed in the Constitution and held the rule of law, didn't try to steal an election, didn't praise Nazis, didn't denigrate the military," Farah Griffin said. "I wish that was the case. I wish I could be proud of the Republican candidate."
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