Buttigieg defends John Kelly’s label of Trump as a ‘fascist’ on Fox News
Kelly said Trump praised Hitler and his generals, joined Joint Chiefs chairman in labeling him a would-be dictator
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Pete Buttigieg told a Fox News anchor that he didn’t disagree with Donald Trump’s ex-chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly, over Kelly’s assessment that his former boss was a would-be autocrat and a “fascist”.
Buttigieg went on the right-wing channel to spar with the network’s conservative hosts on Sunday, a realm where the Transportation Secretary has been particularly effective in championing the Biden-Harris administration’s record. As Trump was onstage in Kinston, North Carolina, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, faced Neil Cavuto’s questions.
Cavuto asked the secretary whether Kamala Harris could truly be “breaking bread” with Republicans if she and other Democrats were calling Trump a “fascist”. Buttigieg responded that Harris and others, including himself, were only agreeing with what Trump’s own top deputy was saying about the ex-president.
“I don’t think that Gen. Kelly is wrong. He knows Donald Trump much better than I do,” Buttigieg said. “I would not contradict General Kelly in his assessment of his former boss. Look, we’ve never seen a president where his own chief of staff and his own vice president won’t support him.”
Fox host: She called him a fascist@PeteButtigieg: She said she did not disagree with his Chief of Staff John Kelly who called him a fascist
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) November 3, 2024
Fox host: Do you agree with John Kelly?
Buttigieg: I don’t think John Kelly is wrong. He knows Trump much better than I do pic.twitter.com/tzki2zpLQS
Kelly’s description of Trump as an authoritarian figure came in an interview with The Atlantic this past month. To Buttigieg’s second point, both Kelly and former Vice President Mike Pence have refused to endorse the ex-president in the 2024 election, with Pence stating that Trump asked him to violate his oath of office.
Trump’s former chief of staff also told The Atlantic at the same time that his former boss praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, particularly Hitler’s generals, on several occasions. Kelly explained to the news outlet that he was so taken aback by the statement the first time he heard it that he initially did not believe what Trump had just supposedly said.
“‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” Kelly said he’d asked Trump, according to The Atlantic. “I said, ‘Do you mean the Kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’”
Trump’s team has denied this exchange ever took place and has characterized Kelly as a “disgruntled” former employee — Kelly’s relationship with Trump publicly turned negative during his time as chief of staff, and he resigned at the end of 2018.
Kelly is far from the only former top aide to the ex-president who has made such claims about his ex-boss; former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley, another general, has given a similar characterization of Trump as an authoritarian.
A slew of Trump’s White House staffers have also come out against his third bid for the presidency, having left Trumpworld in disgust after the attack on the Capitol aimed at overturning the election results on January 6.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments