President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security turned Chief of Staff John Kelly, at the Coast Guard Academy Commencement, New London, CT, May 17, 2017. (Photo by Everett Collection Historical)
Gen. John Kelly, who was President Donald Trump’s secretary of homeland security and longest-serving chief of staff, spoke out about the dangers of a second Trump term, going on record with The Atlantic and The New York Times. Just days earlier, Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman under Trump, was quoted saying Trump is “fascist to the core.”
“He’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people that are dictators. He has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of ‘fascist,’” Kelly told Michael Schmidt at The New York Times.
Kelly said he felt compelled to speak after Trump threatened to use the military against domestic political opponents. “Even to say it for political purposes to get elected, I think it’s a very, very bad thing, let alone actually doing it.”
Kelly also said Trump made comments relating to Hitler such as “Hitler did some good things too.” The Atlantic said Kelly told the magazine that Trump said, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”
Kelly first publicly spoke against Trump in June 2020 over the former president’s handling of the George Floyd protests. Kelly particularly cited Trump’s decision to stage a photo-op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church after having peaceful demonstrators forcibly cleared from Lafayette Square.
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