A former White House Chief of Staff under Donald Trump has warnings for voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
What Happened: Former Marine general John Kelly has been critical of Trump in the past, joining the list of former associates of the former president who have turned to oppose his re-election in 2024.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Kelly provides some stark warnings for America regarding Trump’s re-election efforts.
"It's a very dangerous thing to have the wrong person elected to high office" Kelly, who served as Chief of Staff for Trump previously, told the New York Times.
Kelly doesn't hold back in the interview, providing claims that Trump made admiring statements about Adolf Hitler, expressed contempt for disabled veterans and called people who died while fighting for the U.S. "losers" and "suckers." Kelly's claims were first reported by The Atlantic in 2020.
The former Trump chief of staff said Trump meets the definition of a fascist and will act like a dictator if re-elected to the White House.
"Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators – he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure."
Kelly said Trump didn't like not being the most powerful man in the world despite the title of president.
"And by power, I mean an ability to do anything he wanted, anytime he wanted. I think he'd love to be just like he was in business – he could tell people to do things and they would do it, and not really bother too much about whether what the legalities were and whatnot."
Kelly chose to remain quiet on many of Trump’s opinions and past statements until the former president's recent comments about using the military against the "enemy within," or American citizens who oppose him.
"He's certainly the only president that has all but rejected what America is all about, and what makes America, America, in terms of our Constitution, in terms of our values."
Trump put personal loyalty ahead of the Constitution, Kelly said.
Perhaps one of the most newsworthy items from Kelly's recent interview is the former Trump chief of staff acknowledging that the former president spoke positively of Hitler on more than one occasion.
"He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.'"
Kelly said he believes Trump has no empathy.
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Why It's Important: The latest accusations against Trump come with two weeks left until Election Day and could influence voters who were leaning towards Trump or undecided voters.
Trump's team has denied Kelly's account, with Trump spokesman Steven Cheung saying the accounts are "debunked stories."
Vice President Kamala Harris responded to the alleged comments from Trump on Wednesday.
"It is deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans," Harris said, as reported by Bloomberg.
Harris said the commentary from Kelly paints a picture of how Trump ran the White House and would again.
"This is a window into who Donald Trump really is, from the people who know him best, from the people who worked with him, side by side in the Oval Office, and in the Situation Room."
DJT Price Action: Despite the new claims against the former president, Trump Media & Technology Group DJT shares were up 4.4% to $35.91 on Wednesday. The stock has been gaining in recent days as Trump’s lead in election betting prediction markets has grown.
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