During an appearance on CNN Sunday morning, host Dana Bash asked the congressman about a Friday interview with PBS where Clyburn drew a parallel between Trump and Hitler when speaking about how the president might handle defeat come November.
Bash asked: “Do you really think Donald Trump is comparable to Adolf Hitler?”
Clyburn responded: “I feel very strongly that this man has taken on strong-arm tactics. And I feel very strongly that he is Mussolini. Putin is Hitler. I said that back then, and I believe that.”
Clyburn continued by calling Trump “this guy” and explained that the president will cite some kind of fabricated national emergency as a way to negate the outcome of the coming election if he were to lose.
“I believe very strongly that this guy never had any idea about wanting to peacefully transfer power. I don’t think he plans to leave the White House. He doesn’t plan to have fair and unfettered elections,” Clyburn said. “I believe that he plans to install himself in some kind of emergency way to continue to hold onto office.”
The congressman then encouraged the American people to not sleep on what Trump is up to regarding voter suppression.
“That is why the American people had better wake up. I know a little bit about history, and I know how countries find their demise. It is when we fail to let democracy and the fundamentals of which is a fair, unfettered election. And that’s why he is trying to put a cloud over this election, floating the idea of postponing the elections,” Clyburn said.
The third-ranking Democrat in the House carries a lot of weight in the Democratic party and among voters. Clyburn’s endorsement of Biden only days prior to the South Carolina primary has been credited with giving the campaign momentum that may have carried the now-nominee to victory in the states that followed. So, if nothing else, the congressman’s wake-up call could be a way of galvanizing the Democratic base to not take anything for granted.
“If we are not careful, this country, it will be lost for our next generation, our children and our grandchildren,” Clyburn warned.
