October 25, 2024
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ccused Donald Trump of mimicking a notorious 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, drawing strong criticism from Trump’s campaign, who described her comments as “disgusting” and hypocritical. This event — which Trump will hold this weekend at the historic New York venue — is one that Clinton recently said invoked memories of the pro-Nazi rally there more than 80 years ago.
Clinton’s Remarks on CNN
In an appearance on CNN, Clinton criticized Trump’s choice of venue, telling viewers that “Trump is re-enacting the Madison Square Garden rally in 1939,” a rally organized by the German American Bund, a Nazi-affiliated group in America. “President Franklin Roosevelt was appalled that neo-Nazis and fascists in America were pledging their support for the kind of government they were seeing in Germany,” she added. Clinton warned of what she considers Trump’s “clear and present” danger to the country.
When asked if she agreed with former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s characterization of Trump as a “fascist,” Clinton responded affirmatively: “The term fits.”
Accusations of Hypocrisy
The Trump campaign retaliated, describing Clinton’s remarks as patently hypocritical: Clinton was herself a Madison Square Garden guest, once as a New York senator, and her husband, the former president Bill Clinton, had received his Democratic nomination at the Garden in 1992. The Trump campaign’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told The New York Post: “Hillary Clinton is so messed up from her raging eight-year-long case of anti-Trump derangement syndrome that she forgot SHE did an event at Madison Square Garden when she was a senator.”
Leavitt also ripped Clinton for her comments about Trump supporters, especially Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” speech during the 2016 campaign that is believed to have disenfranchised huge swaths of voters and cost her her victory.
Historical Parallels and Party History
Clinton’s decision to call out Trump’s supporters as Nazis has brought up a history and politics of comparison. Critics were quick to highlight the Democratic Party’s own history with controversial policies, pointing out that policies Democrats endorsed in the past, such as segregation, the Confederacy, and Jim Crow laws, align more closely with Nazi-era values than modern conservative positions. Historically, the Democratic Party resisted numerous civil rights measures in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, and even voted unanimously against the 13th and 14th Amendments, which abolished slavery and established equal protection under the law.
Moreover, critics note that many policies associated with fascism—such as censorship, heavy state control, and restrictive gun laws—have been central to the Democratic Party’s platform, especially in recent years. For instance, gun control, censorship of speech, government-regulated media, and controls on educational curricula bear resemblance to policies implemented in authoritarian states, including Nazi Germany.
Clinton’s Previous Comments and Upcoming Campaign Support
These new comments from Clinton follow her comments during the 2016 presidential campaign when she called half of Trump’s base a “basket of deplorables.” That made her controversial and became a ‘tipping point’ that turned voters off. Clinton’s charges are thrown around as she announces her new book, Something Lost, Something Gained, about her life and experiences related to recent politics.
Clinton will go on the campaign trail with vice-president Kamala Harris in the final days of the election to promote Harris’s campaign against Trump. Choosing to follow Harris and focus on Clinton’s view that Trump is an affront to democracy shows a late-night Democratic effort to mobilize voters through historical analogies and worries about Trump’s power.
Trump’s Campaign Response
In response to Clinton’s comments, the Trump campaign has emphasized what they view as Clinton’s divisive language, with Leavitt noting, “Hillary’s rhetoric about half of the country is disgusting.” Trump’s team asserts that Clinton’s continued attempts to discredit Trump are less about the former president’s character and more about rallying opposition without addressing pressing national concerns. As Election Day nears, the rhetoric on both sides appears only to intensify, setting the stage for what promises to be a contentious close to the campaign season.
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