Former President Donald Trump’s campaign can be summed up as a series of denials for saying things no leader — let alone any reasonable person — should ever be accused of saying.
The latest revelation, reported by The Atlantic, claims that Trump told his staff he wished he had generals like one of the most despicable figures in history: Adolf Hitler. Joy Behar finally had enough and directly said, “Scr*w you,” to Trump on The View over these alleged comments.
Trump is a habitual line-stepper, so even remarks like these don’t surprise many. Behar brought up these comments during a discussion about Charlamagne Tha God’s recent appearance on CNN, where he called out Anderson Cooper and his team for not fully addressing Trump’s fascist leanings. Behar disagreed with her co-host, former Pentagon press secretary Alyssa Farah, who advocated for a more restrained approach to covering Trump, suggesting that the focus should be on how many former staffers have labeled him dangerous. Behar, however, argued that the time for restraint is long past. She hinted at her own family’s painful history during the Holocaust, emphasizing her disgust at the idea of a potential president showing admiration for the architect of that tragedy.
According to The Atlantic, Trump brought up the idea of having German generals — people who would be loyal only to him and follow his commands without question. Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, was apparently dismayed and even tried to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, asking if he meant Bismarck’s generals or even the kaiser generals. But as Kelly — and everyone else, probably — suspected, Trump doesn’t even know who Bismarck is. Trump meant Hitler. Kelly also revealed to The New York Times that Trump once confided in him that he thinks Hitler did some good things. What Trump sometimes considers “good things” is, at best, contentious.
In response to the allegations, Trump did his usual moves. He called The Atlantic a failing magazine, denied ever saying he wanted generals like Hitler’s, and his campaign team said Kelly “beclowned himself.” That last part, where his team acted like his attack dog, is the most worrisome, but let’s put a pin in that for now. The Atlantic, for its part, honorably stood by its reporting and journalist.
If the latest Trump-inspired movie, The Apprentice, is anything to go by, Trump’s behavior has long been cemented into the core of who he is as a human being. He lives by three rules: always attack, always deny, and always claim victory regardless of how things actually turned out. That is an objectively dangerous mindset for a leader, especially for a country as strong and influential as the U.S.
Behar said it best on this episode of The View when she said, “The media has been so worn down by Trump’s crazy talk that they treat his rants as if it’s normal.” The co-hosts of The View noted how Trump is using demonizing language when talking about immigrants, something eerily similar to the Hitler he considers also “did good things.” But perhaps what makes Trump particularly more frightening this second time around is his attack dogs. He clearly has a savvy team handling his campaign outreach and social media presence that speaks his language, such as calling detractors clowns. So the question now remains: has Trump finally found his unquestioning generals? And what does he plan to do with them? Joy Behar seemingly has the best answer for these two questions, and it’s directed squarely at Trump: “Scr*w you.”