Fox host defends Trump’s praise of Hitler’s generals. Maybe they weren’t Nazis?

Republican and conservative commentators spent Wednesday responding to the shocking revelations that Donald Trump, while president, said he needed “the kind of generals Hitler had,” essentially saying, “OK, so what?”

On Fox News, host Brian Kilmeade broke the news – which came from John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general and former Trump chief of staff – delivering the horrific comment in a spectacularly stupid way:

“I can absolutely see him saying, ‘You know what? It would be great to have German generals who actually did what we asked them to do, perhaps not being fully aware of the third group of German generals who were Nazis or something.”

What? All of Adolf Hitler’s generals were Nazis, you idiot. This is not something you can shrug your shoulders at and say, “Well, you know, Trump was just angry and trying to make a point.”

How can anyone defend Trump’s seemingly hateful Nazi comments?

Something tells me Kilmeade would react a little differently if we knew that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris once said she needed “the kind of Marxist guerrillas that Che Guevara had.”

But this is Trump, so which is a bit of Nazi envy, I suppose. Kelly, in interviews with the New York Times and The Atlantic, said Trump also regularly demeaned military veterans and claimed Hitler “did some good things.”

‘You need to look in the mirror and realize that your dishonor will last forever’

It is notable that Kilmeade did not dispute whether Trump made these comments. This makes sense given the source. Kelly is an honorable patriot who has absolutely nothing to gain by sharing this story. In fact, he is putting himself in a position to be the first to be arrested if the former president wins. Trump, on the other hand, is a lying convicted criminal who no one in their right mind should trust.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney — a true conservative — posted on social media Wednesday: “If your response to General John Kelly, Gold Star Father and Trump’s WH Chief of Staff, confirming that Trump praised Hitler and called members of our military ‘suckers and losers is defending Trump, you need to look in the mirror and realize that your dishonor will last forever.”

In fact.

Republican Party governor says Trump’s extremism is “embedded in the vote”

Not to be outdone by Kilmeade in the lickspittle department, Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, went on CNN and tried to tone down Trump’s Nazi-admiring comments.

“I respect General Kelly, I think he’s great, he has a long-term relationship with the president. When you get to those final weeks, it’s all about results, so of course you’re going to hear dirty things, so I’m not going to take away from the general’s conversation with the former president,” Sununu said.

Opinion: Voting for Trump or Harris means you fully support who they are. Accept this.

The governor then completely withdrew the general’s conversation with the former president, treating it as no big deal and saying: “We heard a lot of extreme things about Donald Trump, from Donald Trump. It’s a kind of parity. Unfortunately, with a guy like this, it’s already on the ballot at this point.”

How the hell are “Hitler did some good things” and “I wish I had generals like Hitler” just built in? Sununu’s take is really, “So the guy likes Hitler, what are you going to do? Vote for a freedom?”

Ignoring a wish of Hitler’s generals is not right – never

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about people “sanity washing” with Trump’s incoherent, incoherent babbling to make them seem normal. But hearing people like Sununu and Kilmeade accept Trump’s reported views and Nazis shrug their shoulders is a whole different ballgame.

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Right-wing wise guy Ben Shapiro posted on social media that Kelly’s comments — which came not after retired general Mark A. Milley said in a book that Trump is “a fascist to the core” — were “the latest media opposition from left”. dump” and no one should worry about them. He wrote that “people care about the quality of their lives.”

Okay, friend, I would say that people’s quality of life might drop a little if we elect someone who has these kinds of unbalanced authoritarian beliefs. But also, soldiers like Kelly and Milley are as far to the left as possible, and this was not an “opposition dump”, they were words straight from the mouths of two distinguished American figures.

There is a candidate who did not suggest that Hitler did anything good

I will never understand how so many people stooped to defend a man like Trump. But defenses don’t matter much when someone says the indefensible.

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As Cheney said, Kilmeade, Sununu, Shapiro and any other sycophants who stand by their man can enjoy the dishonor they will bear for the rest of eternity.

I will stick to the most widely accepted view that all Nazis were evil, fascism sucks, and veterans deserve our respect and admiration.

And I’m sure I won’t vote for someone who thinks otherwise.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Opinion: Kelly’s revelation about Trump’s Nazi envy leaves the GOP shrugging its shoulders