Former President Donald Trump addressed accusations that have compared him to a fascist.
Trump denied any association with Nazi ideology, proclaiming at a rally on Monday night in Atlanta, “I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi,” per Politico.
The comments came amid a heated campaign trail exchange in which Trump deflected criticism to Democrats, alleging that Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign rhetoric equated him to a Nazi.
“’He’s Hitler,’ and then they say, ‘he’s a Nazi,’” he said. “I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi.”
Trump also said: “You know, years ago, my father — I had a great father, tough guy — he used to always say, ‘Never use the word Nazi. Never use that word.’ And he’d say, ‘Never use the word Hitler. Don’t use that word,'” per The Hill.
Monday’s rally came fresh on the heels of a packed rally Trump hosted at Madison Square Garden, where speeches reignited comparisons by critics who recalled an infamous Nazi gathering at the arena in 1939.
Ahead of Sunday’s event, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared the Trump rally to the 1939 Nazi rally held in the same venue.
Additionally, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who worked closely with Trump during his tenure, recently claimed in an interview with The New York Times that Trump once remarked that “Hitler did some good things.” It was also reported that Trump allegedly said in a private conversation, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” Trump’s campaign, however, has denied these allegations.
