CNN —
President Joe Biden believes his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, is a fascist, the White House announced Wednesday. This is the clearest sign yet that Biden believes there is a crisis in the election, which is less than two weeks away.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s comments come after Trump’s former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, said the former president fits the “general definition of a fascist” and wants to be a fascist. The announcement was made the day after a series of articles reported that “It was like the generals Hitler had.”
Asked by CNN’s MJ Lee if the White House agreed with Kelly’s reported assessment of his former boss, Jean-Pierre spoke at length about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. They started answering, and eventually the White House said, “Yes.” I agree with that statement.
“Look, we’ve heard many times from this president about the threat to our democracy, and the president has talked about it too. I heard the former president himself say, ‘You’re going to be a dictator from day one.’ It may happen. This is him, not us. This is him,” she said.
Jean-Pierre was referring to a Fox News town hall that President Trump attended late last year. When Fox News’ Sean Hannity tried to give Trump a chance to assure the American people that he would not abuse the power of the presidency if he were to win a second term, the former president responded: . I want to drill, drill, drill. ”
Jean-Pierre then added on Wednesday: Yes, that’s right. That’s right. ”
Asked directly if Biden believes Trump is a fascist, Jean-Pierre said: “I mean, yes…the former president has said from day one that he’s going to be a dictator. We can’t ignore that.” said.
Biden has frequently argued this election is about choosing between the future of American democracy and its possible collapse, but Jean-Pierre’s response on Wednesday was the first in a White House briefing during Biden’s term. It was one of the strongest rebukes against the former president to come out of the chamber.
It’s another moment that shows Biden and the White House are feeling less constrained as they enter their final months in office. Before withdrawing from the race in July, the president had made appealing to moderate Republicans part of his re-election strategy, and although he frequently denounced Trump as a “threat to democracy,” he has not been as outspoken. It wasn’t. More than two years ago, Biden said “semi-fascism” underpins MAGA ideology.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also been outspoken about the dangers of a second term in office for Trump. In an interview with Charlamagne Tha God earlier this month, the Democratic presidential candidate agreed with what President Trump has said “about fascism.”
