About a month ago, in the wake of an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, his running mate was among many Republicans calling on Democrats to limit their criticism of the former president. “We cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist,” said Ohio Senator JD Vance.
It was a curious public call for a number of reasons. For starters, Trump had already routinely accused his political opponents, including Kamala Harris, of being “fascists” in previous months, for no specific reason. On the other hand, despite Vance’s complaints, Democrats had not responded in kind.
At least, that was at the time. A month later, the public conversation has changed. The New York Times reported:
The word “fascist” floated around former President Donald J. Trump from the moment he rode down his golden escalator in 2015 to warn about Mexican rapists and drug dealers during the momentous opening of his bid for the presidency. But for most top Democrats, it was a provocative term filled with fear, historical significance and potential incitement — best left unsaid. Until Vice President Kamala Harris made it clear again and again this week that she would use the word fine.
The shift began in earnest last weekend when the public learned that retired Gen. Mark Milley, who was Trump’s handpicked chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Bob Woodward that he believes the former president is “a total fascist” and a “ fascist to the core’.
It was against this backdrop when Harris appeared on Charlamagne Tha God’s program, and the host said the Republican’s view “is about fascism. Why can’t we just say it?” The Democratic candidate responded“Yes, we can say that.”
A day later, Harris spoke at Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, quoting Milley and urging Americans to “heed this warning.”
Kamala Harris: “Or listen to General Milley, Donald Trump’s top general. He has called Trump “fascist to the core.” And said, ‘No one has ever been more dangerous to this country’… America must heed this warning.” pic.twitter.com/JdXqvAqcnJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2024
The day after, the vice president again referred to the retired general’s “fascist to the core” assessment at a campaign rally in Wisconsin.
Harris hasn’t come right out and said, “Trump is a fascist,” though she has been eager to point the finger at the former chairman of the Joint Leaders — who worked alongside Trump — and remind voters of Milley’s conclusion.
In other words, the Democratic candidate does not have to make the accusation directly; she can simply use the retired general as a proxy.
Plus, it’s not just Harris. After Milley’s comments reached the public, Liz Cheney, former chair of the House Republican Conference, appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and said, “I see no reason to disagree with that assessment.” ‘ A day later, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, highlighting her former Republican rival’s increasingly racist and nativist rhetoric, wrote online: “Let’s be absolutely clear so no one gets confused. Trump’s rhetoric has become blatantly fascist.”
Around the same time, retired U.S. National Guard Major General Randy Manner appeared on MSNBC and said bluntly that Trump voters “absolutely support fascism.” Hours later, the retired two-star general appeared on CNN and made similar comments: “[H]The sad thing is that the people who vote for Trump don’t realize that they are also supporting a fascist.”
In other words, the conversation changed quickly and Milley made it happen.
As for the significance of the retired general’s conviction, Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times did an excellent job of summarizing the context.
“It is simply extraordinary that the nation’s top general would tell anyone, let alone one of the most famous reporters in the world, that the former president of the United States was a ‘fascist’ – a ‘fascist to the core’. core’, even – and a threat to the constitutional order,” Bouie wrote. “There is no precedent for such a thing in American history — no example of another time when a senior leader of the nation’s armed forces felt compelled to warn the public of the danger posed by his former and perhaps future top brass.”
No wonder it caused such a shock.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
