An outgoing Republican lawmaker warned Wednesday the country’s current political climate could produce a figure like Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler.
“I want to be clear and explicit that I am not likening Trump to Hitler, but the forces at play could lead to a future Hitler-like character if we don’t watch out. It must be remembered that another thing that Benjamin Franklin said was that he who trades his freedom for security, deserves neither. Indeed, how true,” Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., wrote in a Facebook post, also referring to one of the nation’s Founding Fathers.
The comments were supposed to be included in a farewell speech Sanford was due to deliver on the House floor last Thursday before lawmakers were called to deal with an imminent partial government shutdown and President Trump announcing his intention to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Sanford’s parting message was one of thanks and caution, signaling that the country was headed toward “a shipwreck if we don’t change course.”
Sanford, a former two-term South Carolina governor and potential presidential contender, lost his primary election in June to ardent Trump supporter state Rep. Katie Arrington. Arrington, who suffered a horrific car accident during her campaign for Congress, eventually lost to Democratic Rep.-elect Joe Cunningham. It was Sanford’s second stint in the House having previously served from 1995 to 2001. He was initially voted into office as part of the 1994 Republican Revolution led by former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Sanford’s return to Congress in 2013 was touted as a political comeback given he left the South Carolina’s governor mansion in 2011 after admitting to having an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. Their relationship came to light in 2009 following a weeklong disappearance by Sanford during which time neither his family nor his security knew his whereabouts. He told his staff he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail when really he had flown to Argentina to see his mistress.
