Historian Meacham links Trump ‘vermin’ comments to ‘most ghastly kinds of crimes’

Presidential historian Jon Meacham on Monday linked former President Trump’s recent comments pledging to “root out” the “vermin” of the U.S. to fascist dictators of the 1930s.

In a post to mark Veteran’s Day on Saturday, Trump pledged on Truth Social to “root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country, lie, steal, and cheat on Elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American Dream.”

The former president later repeated that rhetoric at a speech Saturday in New Hampshire.

MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, speaking with Meacham on Monday, said Trump should probably “pay some royalties to Mussolini’s family trust” and that the former president is “lifting” the rhetoric from totalitarian dictator Benito Mussolini and other fascists from the past.

Meacham interjected: “And from the Third Reich, and using the 1930s as an example of anything is a fraught enterprise.”

Scarborough noted that Trump has praised various dictators, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

“Because to call your opponent vermin, to dehumanize them, is to not only open the door, but to walk through the door toward the most ghastly kinds of crimes,” Meacham continued.

Trump’s campaign has lashed out at the criticism of his remarks over the holiday weekend.

“Those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their sad, miserable existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House,” his campaign said in a statement.

Meacham said he has a “small plea” to his Republican friends to “think again” about their party’s front-runner as Trump continues to hold a strong lead over his GOP rivals in the primary race.

“Think again; think anew about this. This is not about the age of the incumbent president, this is not about your opinion of the incumbent vice president of the United States,” Meacham said. “This about your candidates’ front-runner, your party’s front-runner, who is in fact now as clearly as you can do it, is putting American democracy, human rights, the rule of law below his own ambition.”

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University, told The Washington Post, that “calling people ‘vermin’ was used effectively by Hitler and Mussolini to dehumanize people and encourage their followers to engage in violence.”

When pressed Sunday over Trump’s post, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel dodged reporters’ questions, saying she will not comment on candidates and their messaging.