Trump says 'I'm not a dictator' and attacks his military critics
WASHINGTON - It's not just John Kelly.
Former President Donald Trump is having to defend himself against a host of former military officials - personnel he put in place - who say he has fascist and authoritarian tendencies.
"If I fire somebody, they’ve got every newspaper in the world talking to them to see if they can get them to say something bad," Trump told WABC radio hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby in an interview broadcast Thursday.
Kelly, a retired general who was Trump's chief of staff, told The New York Times that, based on the dictionary, "he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.” Kelly also said: “He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government."
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, asked on CNN if the considers Trump a fascist, told CNN: "He certainly has those inclinations."
And Mark Milley, whom Trump nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told book author Bob Woodward: “We have got to stop him! ... He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist."
Trump's response: Invective.
In his radio interview on the "Cats & Cosby Show," Trump used personal terms to attack Kelly ("a stupid person"), Esper ("a weak guy"), and Milley ("a total dope").
As for his election opponent, Harris, Trump said she is echoing lies.
Referring to a recent Harris interview, Trump told WABC: "All she could do is talk about Trump whenever she was asked the question: ‘Well, I think Trump is a dictator’… I’m not a dictator. It’s just incredible. This is their new thing."
Harris and supporters have urged voters to consider the source of claims that Trump wants unchecked power.
"This is a window into who Donald Trump really is," Harris said this week, "from the people who know him best, from the people who worked with him, side by side, in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room."