Many say the populist crazy talk is typical of the White House primaries, but Republican presidentail frontrunner Donald Trump’s remarks are leading some conservatives to brand him a “fascist” and party rivals to ramp up attacks against him.
The real-estate tycoon said he would support registering Muslims in a database, and insisted he saw Arabs in New Jersey cheer when New York City’s Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001.
His stance has become so belligerent that voices are asking, even inside his party, whether he is committed to democratic values.
Republican experts are warning that Trump could do lasting damage to the party and that his nomination in the party primaries would essentially hand the US presidency to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Several campaign teams in the primary race now appear to be coalescing around the need to oppose the celebrity billionaire’s candidacy.
Establishment conservatives even took the unfathomable step of using a swear word against a member of their own party.
“Trump is a fascist. And that’s not a term I use loosely or often, but he’s earned it,” tweeted Max Boot, a military historian and foreign policy adviser to another Republican presidential hopeful, US Senator Marco Rubio.
“Forced federal registration of US citizens, based on religious identity, is fascism. Period,” said John Noonan, a national security adviser to former Florida governor Jeb Bush.
The Seattle Times used strong language in an editorial on Wednesday that denounced Trump for “button-pushing lie after button-pushing lie.”
“Trump’s campaign message reflects a kind of creeping fascism,” the paper said. “It needs to be rejected.”
Some campaigns have seemed reluctant to directly take on the Trump machine.
However, Bush, struggling to gain traction in the race, piled on, telling Fox News on Wednesday that Trump has been creating “an alternative universe” with his harsh rhetoric, particularly about Muslims.
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Bush said of Trump’s assertion that thousands of people were cheering on Sept. 11, 2001.
Many Republicans, like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, have said that the climate sparked by the Paris attacks would lead voters toward experienced politicians — not an untested commander in chief such as Trump.
However, Trump’s campaign has shown extraordinary resilience, and “the Donald” remains atop all major new polls.
“They say that Trump can do almost anything, and nobody leaves me. And it is true,” Trump said at a rally on Tuesday in South Carolina.
Republican groups are reportedly preparing attack ads against him, including a political committee associated with conservative economic group Club for Growth.
Republican political operative Liz Mair has formed a new group, Trump Card LLC, that will fuel an anti-Trump ad blitz.
It aims to solicit funds from anonymous donors to help “defeat and destroy” Trump, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
A few anti-Trump videos have recently emerged.
Ohio Governor John Kasich launched a one-minute Web ad that links Trump to Nazi Germany.
The ad shows retired US Air Force colonel Tom Moe, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, paraphrasing the words of German pastor Martin Niemoller, who spoke out against the Nazi regime.
“You might not care if Donald Trump says Muslims must register with their government because you’re not one,” Moe says in the clip. “And you might not care if Donald Trump says he’s going to round up all the Hispanic immigrants, because you’re not one, but think about this: If he keeps going, and he actually becomes president, he might just get around to you. And you better hope that there’s someone left to help you.”
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CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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