Former President Trump is “more dangerous” than some of the most notorious dictators in the history of the world, says former senator turned MSNBC pundit Claire McCaskill.
“A lot of people have tried to draw similarities between [Benito] Mussolini and [Adolf] Hitler and the use of the terminology like ‘vermin’ and the drive that those men had towards autocracy and dictatorship,” the Missouri Democrat said during an appearance Tuesday on the network, first highlighted by Mediate. “The difference, though, I think makes Donald Trump even more dangerous, and that is he has no philosophy he believes in.”
Trump recently sparked outrage for a post over Veterans Day weekend attacking his political enemies as “vermin,” drawing comparisons to the likes of Adolf Hitler from some political observers.
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McCaskill said Trump is a unique type of authoritarian figure, noting he “is not trying to overcome a neighboring country like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is in Ukraine. He is not going for a grandiose scheme of international dominance.”
“All he wants … is to look in the mirror and see a guy who’s president,” she said. “All he cares about is selfish self-promotion. That’s the only philosophy he has. Which makes him even more dangerous.”
Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 by a wide margin with new national polling also showing him narrowly ahead in a potential rematch with President Biden in next year’s general election.