Trump’s positive words about the “good things” Adolf Hitler did, and his wish that he had had “Hitler’s generals” when he was president last time, have led many of his Christian defenders in both the U.S. and Europe to argue that it’s not so terrible for the leader of a democratic country to say such things. I know, the debate about Trump has officially reached the point of “Was Hitler and Nazism really that bad?” but that’s where we are.

Just two weeks before the presidential election, Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly dropped a metaphorical bomb: Trump repeatedly insisted that Hitler did many good things, and he said that he wished he had “Hitler’s generals” instead of his own. The attempts people have made to excuse this are mind-boggling. Here are the four worst arguments defending Trump’s Hitler comments:

1. “Trump doesn’t know that Hitler’s generals were Nazis”

A host on Fox News tried to argue that Trump is too stupid to realize that Hitler’s generals were Nazis and actively participated in both the world war and the genocide that Hitler ordered. However, since Trump himself has said that he is a “stable genius” with a “very, very large brain,” that argument doesn’t hold up, obviously.

2. “Trump can’t have said it because I didn’t hear it when I wasn’t there”

Some former White House staffers that worked for Mike Pence, Keith Kellogg and Nick Ayers, claim that Trump’s former Secretary of State and Chief of Staff, John Kelly, who spoke about the Hitler comments, is lying because they didn’t hear Trump say it when they worked in the White House. Many Christians have pointed to their “testimony” as “evidence” that John Kelly is the one lying. The problem is that they weren’t in the room at all when Trump allegedly said it, so they might as well have been in Mongolia, and the fact that they didn’t hear anything neither confirms nor denies it. However, two people who spoke to The Atlantic, and who wish to remain anonymous, have confirmed Kelly’s story. Additionally, 13 former Trump officials back up Kelly’s warnings of Trump’s fascination for dictatorships and authoritarianism.

3. “It’s true that Hitler did good things”

Several Christians have argued that Trump is technically correct: Hitler wasn’t a demon from hell but, like everyone else, could occasionally do good things for others. And, of course, Adolf could help old ladies cross the street, and actions aren’t automatically evil just because Adolf did them. But politicians and high-ranking military officials rarely refer to such everyday actions when discussing what other politicians do that is good or bad. In other words, this isn’t a philosophical or theological discussion about sin and virtue, but a political evaluation.

That’s precisely why Kelly’s objection to Trump’s statement was that “nothing Hitler did was, you could argue, good.” Not because he claimed that Hitler never helped an old lady cross the street or gave a child a candy, but because his entire political career – economically, in terms of infrastructure, and militarily – was aimed at waging war and committing genocide. He only wanted to benefit the “Aryan race” and treated large parts of his own population as vermin, and all investments in the economy and infrastructure were nullified when it all led to a war that resulted in Germany’s devastation.

As many researchers have pointed out, the so-called economic miracle that occurred in Germany after Hitler’s rise to power was to a large extent a consequence of his authoritarian and antisemitic policies. Even the Nazi’s animal protection laws and Hitler’s personal vegetarianism, that people often point to in order to show the “bright side” of Nazism, was a consequence of their antisemitism.

4. “Hitler’s generals were efficient and followed orders, so isn’t it understandable to want generals like them?”

Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, who claims his faith in Christ influences all his decisions, tried to defend Trump’s comments by arguing that having Hitler’s generals would really be a good thing. He said: “Play this out: If your general, who’s your chief of staff and your secretary of defense, is not doing what you say on an everyday basis, I could see him going, ‘I’d love generals that listened, that would be great.’”

The defense that Trump wants the same kind of generals as Hitler’s because he wants military leaders who follow orders is extremely shortsighted. What was the difference between Nazi military leaders and American military leaders today? It’s not that the former obeyed orders while the latter do not.

The Nazi generals who followed Hitler were willing to break laws and constitutions in obedience to their loyalty to the Führer, and it’s precisely the willingness to break laws and inspiration from dictators that Kelly highlights when he talks about Trump’s admiration for having generals like Hitler’s.

According to Kelly, Trump “would love” to be a dictator because he wants people to obey him regardless of whether they break the law or not – which also explains why Trump is charged with so many crimes.

The reason Trump complains about the American military, which already follows orders within the limits of democracy (because there are certain things the president actually can’t order the military to do except in times of war), and instead praises literal Nazis who obeyed dictator Adolf Hitler, is that he sees something in Hitler’s Nazi generals that doesn’t exist in American generals – and there, obedience to orders is not what distinguishes them. However, the willingness to break laws and norms is something that does set them apart.

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So, to sum up: it’s really, really bad that someone who is trying to become president in a democratic country emphasizes that Hitler did good things and that he wants the same kind of generals as him. The U.S. has never had a presidential candidate who made such statements. They have also never had a presidential candidate who actively supports those who attacked the U.S. Capitol and said that he will pardon those who have been imprisoned for it. Let’s pray that Trump loses the presidential election next week.

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Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.

Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, justice, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world. If you like what we do, please become a member!