Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade is facing criticism after he appeared to defend former President Donald Trump following reports that the former president previously said he wanted loyal generals such as the ones who served Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Trump is reported to have said that he needed “the kind of generals that Hitler had” during his time in the White House.
“People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders,” Trump added at the time, according to The Atlantic, citing two sources. Trump’s team has denied the allegations
But in an interview with The New York Times, Trump’s first Homeland Security Secretary and second chief of staff, Gen John Kelly, said that Trump meets the definition of fascist and would govern like a dictator if he was allowed to do so.
Trump once reportedly asked Kelly, “Why can’t you be like the German generals,” according to the book The Divider: Trump in the White House.
Kilmeade cited the recent book by Trump National Security Advisor HR McMaster, saying that former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Kelly “didn’t like the president, and they didn’t think he deserved the job, or they didn’t think he was worthy of the job, and they went out of his way to make sure a lot of things they asked him to do that they didn’t like never got done.”
“McMaster would be frustrated because he couldn’t get their attention,” Kilmeade added. “And he would say, ‘it’s not your job to rein in the president. It’s your job to do what the president wants’.”
The Fox News host went on to note that Trump came from the business world and was running a private corporation where he could get his way.
“He obviously has frustration, and I could absolutely see him going out, ‘You know what? It would be great to have German generals [that] actually do what we asked them to do,’” he said. “Knowing that, maybe not fully being cognizant of the third rail of German generals were Nazis and whatever. But he was frustrated with the slowdown.”
Fox host Brian Kilmeade justifies Trump wanting German generals
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) October 23, 2024
Kilmeade: I can absolutely see him go it'd be great to have German generals that actually do what we ask them to do, maybe not fully being cognizant of the third rail of German generals who were Nazis or whatever pic.twitter.com/6lpjH6foEk
Former Trump White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews responded to Kilmeade’s comments on X, writing: “This… is insane. Hitler’s generals carried out GENOCIDE. Republicans: STOP defending this. This is not normal. There is no way to spin this.”
“Why do they insist on embarrassing themselves like this?” conservative attorney George Conway asked.
Daily Beast columnist Rotimi Adeoye said it was “Straight up Nazi softening happening on Fox News. Honestly, I know this network is out of line a lot of times but this is actually disgusting and it’s shocking they just platformed this type of ahistorical insanity.”
Zak Malamed, a former Democratic congressional candidate, added: “This is anti-America. Notice @SteveDoocy’s body language when Kilmeade dismisses Trump’s affection for Nazis. He knows it’s wrong and yet he uses his platform to elevate those who justify the former President’s fascist tendencies.”
Journalist Jake Sherman said he was simply “speechless.”
