MSNBC host Joy Reid said President Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention was more akin to that of a monarch or a dictator than a president of the United States.
After Trump wrapped up his roughly 70-minute address at the White House, Reid compared him to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and Mobutu Sese Seko, the former leader of Congo.
“All I have to say is as I’m watching this, I’m thinking Fidel Castro, Julius Caesar, Mobutu Sese Seko. That was not an American president giving an acceptance speech. That was a monarch. It was — it was very much like what Castro used to do, an hour and 10 minutes, that clocked in,” she said.
Reid noted that it was not a “usual Trump speech” featuring tangents and humor. She said Trump’s speech is what the U.S. would look like if democracy fell.
“He made the White House into the Trump palace. If democracy in America ever falls and we become a complete autocracy with a decrepit leader and his corrupt family moving their trunks into the White House and never leaving, if we become — if we become the old [Democratic Republic of Congo], you know, or we become what Brazil is now, if we just fall as a democracy, tonight is what it will look like,” Reid said.
The MSNBC host also brought up concerns with the Hatch Act, which restricts most federal employees from participating in partisan political events while engaged in their official duties.
“This is what it will look like to have a decrepit, corrupt monarch. This was a crime. Every Cabinet member that was sitting there was violating the Hatch Act. Ivanka Trump was violating the Hatch Act. This was repugnant to see a campaign sign festooned on our property, on the White House, with a big iron gate outside so that the people can’t even come in. This was repugnant. This would be the end of America. If this is what we’re going to be, this won’t be a democracy. That’s a Monarchy. It was repugnant,” she added.
Trump’s speech was also criticized by Fox News host Chris Wallace, who said the speech “lacked fireworks” and was “far too long.”
