The Biden administration slammed former President Donald Trump for accusing Democrats of conducting a “Gestapo administration,” a reference to Nazi Germany.
According to White House spokesperson Andrew Bates, President Joe Biden is focused on bringing Americans together rather than echoing fascist rhetoric, lunching with Neo-Nazis, and spreading disproved conspiracy theories that have cost courageous police officers their lives.
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Human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned Trump for using Nazi and fascist iconography in this case to undermine the four criminal proceedings ongoing against him. Trump has often referred to the sweeping indictments against him as “election interference,” despite the fact that there is no election in which Biden or other authorities are targeting his reelection bid.
In a closed-door meeting with Republican contributors over the weekend, Trump stated, “These people are running a Gestapo administration.” And that’s all they have. They believe it is the only way they will win, even though it is killing them. But that does not disturb me.”
Several publications obtained audio of the remarks. The former president’s remarks come one day before Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began Sunday night.
Trump, who is under a gag order in his New York hush money trial, which resumes on Monday, did not refer to any specific judge or prosecutor when he used the phrase “Gestapo.”
Jewish organizations also promptly condemned Trump’s remark. According to Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, “It’s always wrong, offensive, and despicable to make comparisons like this—eeven more so when taken alongside the former president’s long history of normalizing antisemitism, from the ‘fine people’ in Charlottesville to his embrace of deadly conspiracy theories and tropes.”
In his remarks to contributors, Trump also used obscenity to insult special counsel Jack Smith, who is in charge of Trump’s charges surrounding his alleged misuse of sensitive data and efforts to reverse the 2020 election results.
The former president also assailed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is conducting a state-level election prosecution against him in Georgia.
In addition to generating funds for Trump’s campaign, the Republican donor conference functioned as a sort of audition for Trump’s potential vice presidential contenders.
One of those candidates, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, then attempted to downplay Trump’s “Gestapo” comment.
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Burgum stated that the reference was “a short comment deep into” a 90-minute campaign address that covered a variety of themes.
Burgum added, “I think that it’s reasonable that someone who’s being kept off the campaign trail as the presumptive nominee has some frustration about that.”
