Utah Senator Mike Lee criticized Vice President Kamala Harris and other top Democrats for comparing Donald Trump to Hitler, arguing that such rhetoric invites attacks on the former president.
“I find it troubling,” he told The Daily Wire on Thursday, “especially because, to me, it feels like trolling for assassins.”
“When you’re constantly calling him Hitler,” Lee said, “that’s really dangerous.”
“I’m not one who thinks that no one can ever make a Hitler comparison or at least draw upon it, but when you identify him as much as they have with Hitler, you characterize him that way, it tends to leave a lot of people feeling morally justified in doing or saying things they wouldn’t otherwise do or say.”
On Wednesday, Harris spoke from the White House where she argued that “Trump said he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler had,” adding, “he wants a military that is not loyal to the Constitution, but loyal to him… This is a window into who Donald Trump really is from the people who know him best.”
Haris’s remarks referred to a highly criticized Atlantic piece in which one anonymous source claimed that Trump mocked a dead soldier and praised Hitler’s generals. The piece has been widely denounced by the deceased soldier’s sister, as well as people in Trump’s circles, as false and “dishonest.”
On the left: I sent Atlantic a comment saying President Trump “absolutely did not say that,” referring to the alleged comments about Ms. Guillen they printed.
On the right: Atlantic translated that comment to “didn’t hear Trump say it.”
Treat this dishonest piece accordingly. pic.twitter.com/pM1o1c9fEm
— Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) October 22, 2024
“Donald Trump is out for unchecked power,” Harris added in an X post. “He wants a military like Adolf Hitler had, who will be loyal to him, not our Constitution. He is unhinged, unstable, and given a second term, there would be no one to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses.”
The Daily Wire reached out to the Secret Service on Wednesday and asked whether Harris’ remarks count as incitement to violence against Trump. The agency did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“They certainly should be taking it seriously in terms of its likelihood of increasing the threat matrix,” Lee responded, asked whether the Secret Service should treat Harris’ remarks as incitement to violence.
