USA Former chief of staff causes a stir with Trump words about Hitler

Two weeks before the US presidential election, Donald Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly is causing a stir with comments about the ex-president's attitude towards Adolf Hitler. "You know, Hitler did some good things too," Kelly told the New York Times, adding that he had heard Trump say this several times. He then pointed to Hitler's racism and fascism as the motivation for his actions, after which the conversation mostly dried up, Kelly said in the interview.

"Hitler's generals"

Kelly confirmed to "The Atlantic" magazine that Trump had said in a conversation that he wanted generals as loyal as "Hitler's generals". A spokesperson for Trump's campaign team denied that Trump had said this. The Trump camp had already previously denied Kelly's credibility.

The former US Marine general was Trump's chief of staff in the White House from 2017 to 2019. He was already considered a source of similar revelations in recent years, including in books about Trump's presidency, but is now speaking out directly in the two interviews.

"General definition of a fascist"

Kelly also told the New York Times that, in his view, Trump "falls under the general definition of a fascist". He referred to the description of fascism as an extreme right-wing, authoritarian and ultra-nationalist ideology, which includes a dictatorial leader and suppression of the opposition. Based on his experience, Trump thinks that America would be better governed in this way, said Kelly.

To explain why he was now taking a public stance, the 74-year-old Kelly referred to Trump's recent comments about "enemies within" and his consideration of using the military against political opponents at home.

Trump wants to return to the White House for the Republicans. In the polls, he is largely tied with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

The 60-year-old reacted indignantly to the revelations. "It is deeply disturbing and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump is invoking Adolf Hitler - the man responsible for the deaths of six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans," said Harris. "All of this is further evidence to the American people of who Donald Trump really is." The Republican is increasingly unleashed and unstable, he said. And in a second term, people like John Kelly would no longer be there to restrain and restrain him from his worst impulses, she warned.

SDA