“Mussolini Is a Better Comparison”: Hillary Clinton Compared Trump to Hitler – But Was the Comparison Fair?

Michelle MeyerNov 13, 2023

Minute Read

Donald Trump has been the subject of Hitler comparisons for many years. Now, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has joined the discussion

The End of the United States

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Speaking to the hosts of “The View,” Clinton pointed out that Hitler was “duly elected.” Sunny Hostin asked her about what could happen if Trump were to make it back into the White House. “I think it would be the end of our country as we know it,” the former presidential candidate said.

Trump Was Restrained Before

Clinton continued: “I think he would be even worse now because he was somewhat restrained, believe it or not, in the first term, by people who he hired because he thought they would go along with him and they stood up to him. And so now he’s going to – if he were ever near the Oval Office again, find people who have no principles, no conscience, who are totally tied to his fortune.”

One and Done

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“When I was secretary of state, I used to talk about one and done. What I meant by that is that people would get legitimately elected and then they would try to do away with elections and do away with opposition and do away with a free press,” Clinton went on to add.

Hitler Was Duly Elected

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It was then that she made the comparison to Hitler: “Hitler was duly elected, right? And so, all of a sudden, somebody with those tendencies, the dictatorial, authoritarian tendencies, would be like, ‘Oh okay, we’re going to shut this down, we’re going to throw these people in jail,’ and they didn’t usually telegraph that. Trump is telling us what he intends to do.”

An Authoritarian Dictator

Clinton evidently shares the same concerns many Americans do – that Trump aspires to be an authoritarian dictator. She told the hosts of “The View” that it’s important to “take him at his word” and Hostin agreed: “We need to listen to him.”

Building an Authoritarian Nation

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“He means to throw people in jail who disagree with him, shut down legitimate press outlets, do what he can to literally undermine the rule of law and our country’s values,” Clinton said, spelling out her message for anyone it might not have been clear to.

Extremism in the GOP

Clinton went on to criticize the rise of extremism in the GOP: “I mean, we had very strong partisans in both parties in the past and we had very bitter battles over all kinds of things… but there wasn’t this little tail of extremism, waving, you know, wagging the dog of the Republican Party as it is today. And sadly, so many of those extremists, those MAGA extremists take their marching orders from Donald Trump, who has no credibility left by any measure.”

Deprogramming the Cult

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Continuing, she called for Trump’s “cult” to be deprogrammed: “He’s only in it for himself. He’s now defending himself in civil actions and criminal actions. And when do they break with him? Because at some point, you know, maybe there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members… but something needs to happen.”

The Public Opinion

Clinton is far from the first person to compare Trump to Hiter. People have been doing it for years and, arguably, they have good reason. Regardless of one’s opinions on the former president’s actions or views, it’s undeniable that he uses many of the same political tactics as the infamous dictator, even if there are a lot of differences too.

A Book of Hitler’s Speeches

One social media commenter said: “I have studied this stuff for most of my life and I could hear it in his speeches in 2016. I think it was Ivana who said the only book she ever saw on his nightstand was a book of Hitler’s speeches. Anyone who knows history knows that Hitler and the Nazis were right-wing nationalists.”

Every Page of Hitler’s Playbook

Another person wrote: “As someone who has a master’s degree in political science – who literally studied government, history, and politics for seven years and who may or may not have watched every show on Hitler and the Nazis during that time – I can unequivocally say that Trump and MAGA have taken every single page out of Hitler’s playbook.”

Targeting Minority Groups

Others discussed the far-right tendency to blame a country’s problems on minority groups: “It’s not a perfect comparison, seeing as only one was successful in what he wanted. But it’s not that far of a stretch. Trump and Hitler both gave their people an ‘enemy’ to blame when things weren’t going well for them. Difference here is Hitler spoke to the entire country of Germany, while Trump only spoke to his supporters. Hitler chose Jewish people as well as several other groups, mainly communists. Trump chose Mexicans as well as several other groups, mainly communists.”

Trump, Hitler, and the Media

The commenter continued: “Further, they both use propaganda exceptionally well. Arguably some of the best in the world. They were able to convince a large portion of their respective countries that what they said was true and that anything from the media was completely fake. On the media, Hitler completed a majority takeover, so he controlled what most of them said himself. The ones he didn’t control either folded or knew better than to disagree with Hitler. Trump was never able to try, much less accomplish, anything like this. However, he did result in making his own party distrust every word out of the media, effectively rendering it useless to the people that needed it the most.”

Trump vs. Mussolini

Others said Mussolini was a better comparison: “Mussolini is a better comparison. I think the biggest thing is mannerisms and personal behavior. Mussolini wanted to be seen as a strong man and a lady’s man. Trump behaves in a similar fashion. Mussolini liked to use thugs to beat up dissenters. I believe we saw a similar kind of thing with Trump’s use of federal agents and his many ramblings about ‘thugs’ in democratically controlled cities. Trump also plays up the religious right the same way Mussolini used the Catholic Church despite neither of them actually being devout or religious themselves.”

Hitler in Prison

Another commenter wrote: “History doesn’t repeat itself. It echoes. The speech Trump gave on Jan 6th and the resulting uprising were nearly identical in tone and purpose to Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch. The only difference, so far, is Hitler was sent to jail for treason.”

Warranted and Necessary

Others talked about why they felt these types of comparisons were important: “While I don’t think comparisons to Hitler are perfect, I do think they’re warranted and necessary. There are a lot of similarities in how he operates and I think it’s important that we make sure people realize how dangerous this could get.”

Straight to Genocide

Another person said: “You know what’s disgusting? The people claiming Trump can’t be like Hitler because he hasn’t gotten to mass murder yet. You know, the ones totally ignoring the entirety of his rise to power and multiple years of being in charge of Germany. [The ones] showing they think Hitler got elected without running a campaign based on encouraging hatred of others, nationalism, and vowing to ‘make Germany great again.’ [They think he] went straight to genocide with nothing else in between.”

Listen to Holocaust Survivors

“I think the people dismissing the comparisons should listen to the holocaust survivors who are also making the comparisons. Nobody is saying he is exactly the same as Hitler… just that he’s very similar in a lot of ways and that should be a concern,” one individual wrote.