Retired Gen. Mark Milley helped get the ball rolling. The public learned two weeks ago that the man Donald Trump tapped to serve as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently declared on the record that he now believes the Republican candidate is “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.”
It was a week later retired Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trump’s White House chief of staff, also said that Trump meets the “definition of ‘fascist.’” This was soon followed by similar comments from Mark Esper, Trump’s former Defense secretary, who conceded “it’s hard to say” that Trump hasn’t earned the “fascist” label.
Evidently, much of the American public is thinking along the same lines: The latest ABC News/Ipsos poll found 49% of the country sees the former Republican president as a fascist.
CNN’s Kate Bolduan asked House Majority Whip Tom Emmer for his reaction to the survey data, and the Minnesota Republican replied that his party’s nominee “is going to win this election.” That might very well be true — though it wasn’t much of a response to a question about much of the public concluding that Trump is actually a fascist.
The interview nevertheless continued, and the host asked the GOP congressman about allegations — raised by members of Trump’s own team — that the former president privately offered praise for Adolf Hitler’s generals during his White House term. Is Emmer comfortable with such rhetoric? He refused to answer, dismissing the question as irrelevant.
And so Bolduan tried once again. NBC News reported:
Bolduan at one point asked: ‘Are you, personally, OK if Donald Trump says that he wants his generals to be like Hitler’s generals?’ Emmer, after a brief pause, said in part: ‘Americans do not want to talk about that.’
It was tough to watch.
The odd thing is, there’s a rather obvious response the House GOP leader could’ve presented. “Obviously, no one in American politics should have anything positive to say about Hitler or his generals, but I don’t believe the recent reporting, and Trump has denied the claims.”
See how easy this is?
But the House majority whip, scared of his own shadow, wouldn’t even go that far.
The recent history is a relevant part of the story: Most House Republicans voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election, but Emmer did the right thing and sided with democracy.
To put it mildly, Trump held a grudge — and derailed Emmer’s bid for House speaker exactly one year ago this week.
The Minnesota Republican went to humiliating lengths to work his way back into the former president’s good graces, abandoning any sense of pride, and his efforts ultimately paid off.
After Emmer embarrassed himself with over-the-top sycophancy, Trump reportedly boasted privately, in reference to the congressman, “They always bend the knee.”
A year later, as Emmer’s pitiful display on CNN helped demonstrate, too little has changed.
