Trump claims that “Hitler did many good things” and says “I want the same kind of generals that Hitler had.” As we have pointed out before, he is a clear threat to democracy.

Just two weeks before the presidential election, Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly drops a metaphorical bomb: Trump repeatedly insisted that Hitler did many good things, and he often complained about not receiving full obedience from his generals. For instance, Trump attempted to start a war with Iran, which his generals prevented, something that deeply frustrated him.

At one point, Trump said he wished he had “German generals” instead. John Kelly asked if he meant Bismarck’s generals, but Trump didn’t know who Otto von Bismarck was. “Surely you don’t mean Hitler’s generals?” Kelly asked in shock. “Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals,” Trump replied.

Kelly pointed out that during his time as Trump’s chief of staff in the White House, Trump became increasingly fascinated by dictators and how they had much more power over people than democratic leaders. He observed that Trump often became furious at any attempt to limit his power and that “he would love to be” a dictator.

“He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government,” Kelly told The Times. “I think he’d love to be just like he was in business — he could tell people to do things and they would do it, and not really bother too much about whether what the legalities were and whatnot.”

“He definitely prefers the dictator’s way of governing,” Kelly told The Times, later adding: “I think he would love to be just like he was in business — he could tell people to do things, and they would do it, without really bothering too much about whether what he was doing was legal or not.”

Kelly is not the first former senior official in the Trump administration to describe the former president as a threat. General Mark A. Milley, who was Trump’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that Trump is “a wannabe dictator” and “the most dangerous person to this country.” And Trump’s own former vice president, Mike Pence, said after thousands of Trump supporters tried to kill him for certifying the 2020 election: “Anyone who puts themselves above the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”

Most white evangelicals have stood by Trump through all the lies and hate, all the sexual abuse and rape, all the Putin praise and crimes. They even continue to support him after he abandons his pro-life stance and starts promoting abortion. But will they continue to support him even after he praises Hitler and wants Nazi generals? They wouldn’t, would they?

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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!