Trump's third run for the presidency is “damn dangerous," warned one Republican.
The blunt sentiment comes from former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a New York Times editorial focusing on the ways the 45th president has flirted with fascist and neofascist tropes, while essentially launching a domestic war against his perceived enemies.
“It’s too simplistic to reference him as a neofascist or autocrat or whatever — Trump is Trump, and he has no particular philosophy that I’ve seen after four years as president,” Hagel, a Republican who served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet following 12 years as a Nebraska senator.
Whatever the characterization, Hagel believes Trump's bravado and vow to get back at his enemies is “damn dangerous.”
In a recent sit-down interview with Univison’s Enrique Acevedo Trump said he would empower the FBI and Justice Department to go after his opponents in the same way he perceives these federal law enforcement agencies have been weaponized against him.
“Yeah. If they do this, and they’ve already done it, but if they follow through on this, yeah, it could certainly happen in reverse,” Trump told Acevedo, who soon departed from the outlet.
Hagel contends that Trump hasn’t sobered up one bit.
“He continues to push people into corners and give voice to this polarization in our country, and the real danger is if that continues to bubble up and take hold of a majority of Congress and statehouses and governorships,” Hagel said.
Hagel fears that a second Trump term will only eliminate checks on his ambitions and potential retribution.
He said: “There must be compromise in a democracy because there’s only one alternative — that’s an authoritarian government.”
Trump's campaign continues to glide through the race to become the next Republican nominee for the White House, dwarfing the numbers versus the pack of GOP candidates.
The 45th president holds a 60.3 percent lead with only Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis coming in at 13.5 percent and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley not yet breaking double digits with 9.4 percent, according to Five Thirty Eight.
