Donald Trump’s habit of retweeting his followers has once again stirred up controversy.
The GOP presidential front-runner proudly highlighted early Sunday morning a striking quote attributed to him by a Twitter user: “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.”
But that quote is actually attributed to fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Indeed, the username of the Trump follower who brought the quote to the billionaire businessman’s attention — @ilduce2016 — gives a clue that he might be an admirer of the former Axis leader, as does his use of a composite image of Mussolini with Trump’s iconic hairstyle for his Twitter avatar.
Followers called Mussolini “Il Duce,” or “the leader,” during his time in power.
Asked about the tweet on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Trump responded that he knew the quote was by Mussolini when he retweeted it.
“Mussolini was Mussolini,” Trump replied. “It’s a very good quote, it’s a very interesting quote. I know who said it, but what difference does it make whether it’s Mussolini or somebody else?”
“You want to be associated with a fascist?” asked host Chuck Todd. “No, I want to be associated with interesting quotes,” Trump shot back.
This isn’t the first time Trump has attracted attention by highlighting a tweet tied to a World War II fascist.
In November, he generated headlines by retweeting an edited image of former Republican rival Jeb Bush near a swastika.
Earlier this year, he deleted a retweet after its author — @WhiteGeoniceTM — was found to be a supporter of the American Nazi Party.