Biden thinks Trump is a fascist, White House says

CNN
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President Joe Biden believes his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, is a fascist, the White House said Wednesday – the clearest sign yet of what Biden believes is at stake in the election less than two weeks away.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's comments came a day after a series of articles reported that Trump's former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, said the former president “fits the general definition of fascist.” “ and wanted the “A kind of generals that Hitler had.”

When asked whether the White House agreed with Kelly's alleged assessment of his former boss, Jean-Pierre responded at length about the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, before finally answering “yes.” The White House agrees with this assertion.

“Look, you've heard from this president over and over again about the threats to democracy, and the president has talked about it. You heard from the former president himself that he will be a dictator on day one. That's him, not us. That’s him,” she said.

Jean-Pierre was referring to a Fox News town hall event Trump attended late last year. Fox News' Sean Hannity tried to give Trump a chance to reassure Americans that he would not abuse the power of his office if he won a second term, but the former president responded: “Except for the first day.” I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Jean-Pierre added later on Wednesday: “I know that the vice president has just spoken about this to agree to this determination. “Yes, we do. That’s what we do.”

Asked directly whether Biden believes Trump is a fascist, Jean-Pierre replied: “I mean, yes… the former president said he will be a dictator on day one. We can’t ignore that.”

While Biden has often expressed this election as a choice between the future of democracy in America and its possible destruction, Jean-Pierre's response on Wednesday is one of the strongest condemnations of the former president to come from the White House briefing room during Biden's term.

It's another moment that signals that Biden and his White House are feeling less constrained now that his term is entering its final months. The president had made appeals to moderate Republicans part of his re-election strategy before dropping out of the race in July, and while he frequently called Trump a “threat to democracy,” he had not been quite as outspoken. Biden previously said more than two years ago that “semi-fascism” underpins MAGA ideology.

Vice President Kamala Harris has also been outspoken about the dangers that she sees as a second Trump presidency. In an interview with Charlamagne Tha God earlier this month, the Democratic presidential candidate agreed that Trump is “about fascism.”