Late Night host Seth Meyers delved into all the times Donald Trump has shown “admiration for dictators” in his show on Thursday night – following the former president’s recent declaration that he would be a dictator on “day one” of a possible second term and his recent anti-immigration comments echoing Adolf Hitler.
In a recent interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Mr Trump was asked if he would ever “abuse power” if he returns to the White House in 2024.
The former president replied: “Except for day one.”
While many GOP lawmakers defended his remarks, putting them down to one of Trump’s many “Trump-isms”, Mr Meyers decided to take a closer look at the times the former president has shown his appreciation for history’s most disturbing dictators.
“He used to be pro-choice, now he’s anti-abortion. He used to be for gun control, now he’s against it. But the one thing he’s been consistent on his entire life is his support for dictators,” Mr Meyers said on his show on Thursday.
Mr Meyers showed viewers a copy of an interview in a 1990 Playboy magazine, where Mr Trump revealed his admiration for China’s massacre of pro-democracy student protestors the previous year.
“When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength,” Mr Trump said at the time.
“That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak.”
Mr Meyers then noted Mr Trump’s recent approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who bashed Joe Biden’s “rotten” American political system.
Seth Meyers said Trump has made it clear he aspires to be a dictator— (Late Night with Seth Meyers)
At a rally in New Hampshire last week, Mr Trump supported Mr Putin’s comments.
“Well, if Vladimir Putin said it, it must be true,” Mr Meyers joked.
“Trump has been very clear that he will aspire to be a dictator by using the language of dictators,” Mr Meyers added, before listing off times the former president has echoed the likes of Hitler and Mussolini.
Mr Trump has recently drawn comparisons to Hitler over his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
At last week’s rally in New Hampshire, he said that immigration is “poisoning the blood of our country” – comments that many have pointed out echo comments made by Hitler about Jewish people.
Since then, Mr Trump has responded by insisting that he has never read Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
On Thursday’s show, Mr Meyers pointed out another time when, while in office, the former president reportedly praised Hitler, saying he did “a lot of good things”.
“First of all, if you’re echoing Hitler, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re ripping him off or you got there on your own – you’re still echoing Hitler,” Mr Meyers exclaimed.
