James Clyburn Likens Donald Trump To Benito Mussolini: ‘I Don’t Think He Plans To Leave The White House’
In an interview with CNN broadcast on Sunday, House Majority Whip James Clyburn argued that President Donald Trump will refuse to leave office if he loses in November, Newsweek reported.
Clyburn likened Trump to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, comparing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“I feel very strongly that he is Mussolini, Putin is Hitler,” the South Carolina Democrat said.
“I believe very strongly that this guy never had any idea about being — want to peacefully transfer power,” Clyburn warned.
“I don’t think he plans to leave the White House. He doesn’t plan to have fair and unfettered elections. I believe that he plans to install himself in some kind of emergency way to continue hold onto office.”
Clyburn issued his warning days after Trump floated delaying the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier this week, the commander-in-chief expressed concern over mail-in voting, arguing that the election needs to be postponed until the people can “safely” cast their ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The suggestion was widely condemned by both Democrats and Republicans, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pointing out that the United States has never delayed an election.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly attacked mail-in voting, claiming that it is vulnerable to manipulation and fraud. However, as Newsweek noted, experts have disputed their claims, pointing out that there is no evidence that postal ballots lead to fraud or inaccurate results.
Clyburn added that Americans “had better wake up” to this reality.
Per The Hill, Clyburn also told CNN that Trump’s suggestions were an attempt to “put a cloud” over the upcoming presidential contest between Trump and the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The Democrat argued that the president’s remarks exemplify how the fundamentals of American democracy are “being frayed.”
“And if we are not careful, this country, it will be lost for our next generation, our children and our grandchildren,” Clyburn said.
Even some Republicans believe that Trump’s railing against vote-by-mail could backfire. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, some GOP operatives fear that the attacks on this form of voting could depress Republican voter turnout, which would only help Democrats win.
Furthermore, research from the conservative-leaning R Street Institute suggests that the GOP would actually benefit from an expansion in absentee balloting. The think tank noted that Republican candidates, including Trump in 2016, have won in states where a large number of Americans vote via post.
The latest polling suggests that as many as 70 percent of Americans support voting by mail.
