House Majority Whip James Clyburn referenced Nazi Germany while discussing President Trump’s attempts to contest election results across the country.
“I’m beginning to see what happened in Germany back in the 1930s. I never thought that could happen in this country,” the prominent South Carolina Democrat told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday night during a discussion about disputed election results. “How do you elect a person president and all of a sudden give him the authority to be a dictator? That’s what we’re teetering on here.”
Clyburn continued: ”That’s what Hitler did in Germany. He was elected chancellor and then, because he successfully discredited the news media, took over the churches. I cannot see that happening here. It may happen, but if it did, that means that the American people are much more — less, I should say — intelligent than I think they are.”
.@WhipClyburn: “I’m beginning to see what happened in Germany back in the 1930s … I cannot see that happening here. It may happen, but if it did, that means that the American people are much more— less, I should say, intelligent than I think they are.” pic.twitter.com/igPFdxVd5m
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 11, 2020
Clyburn also stated that Democrats have always taken the “high road” when it comes to contested elections.
“Nobody should have been as upset as Al Gore in 2000 — 227 votes — he still took the high road. Hillary Clinton took the high road. My party has always done that,” Clyburn said.
Clyburn is often credited with sealing former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential nomination by endorsing the longtime Delaware senator before the South Carolina primary that many believed was a must-win for Biden.
