Fascism expert issues warning after Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally

On Sunday, October 27 — with the 2024 presidential election only nine days away — GOP nominee Donald Trump held a major rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where he was joined by X/Tesla CEO Elon Musk, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), wrestler Hulk Hogan and many other supporters.

The speakers often echoed the nativist themes that have been a hallmark of Trump's campaign, and MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart drew a parallel between Trump's rally and an infamous event held at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939: a pro-Nazi rally organized by the German American Bund.

Trump's rally followed a controversy in which former White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly revealed that Trump, as president, complained that U.S. military leaders weren't like Adolf Hitler's generals in Nazi Germany.

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Capehart discussed Trump's rally with two guests: The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum, and historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, known for her expertise on authoritarianism.

Ben-Ghiat argued that it was "not a casual choice" for Trump to hold the October 27 rally at Madison Square Garden.

The historian told Capehart and Applebaum, "Although Donald Trump objects strenuously to people comparing him to Hitler, he is the one who has gone out of his way to use Nazi rhetoric: talking about polluting our blood, calling people vermin, even releasing a campaign ad that says he's going to creative a unified reich in America. And of course, as Gen. Kelly said, (Trump complained) that generals should be obeying him like Hitler's generals obeyed the Fuhrer. So, this is not at all casual."

Ben-Ghiat noted that Trump has been "using his rallies since 2015" to "incite violence" and "radicalize people."

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The historian got no argument from Applebaum, who told Capehart and Ben-Ghiat, "This isn't language that has been part of mainstream American politics before…. Even George Wallace's horrific, racist speech that he made in 1963 — segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever — he doesn't use that kind of language."

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