Trump Spox Responds to Firestorm Over Trump Calling His Enemies ‘Vermin’ by Saying ‘Their Entire Existence Will Be Crushed’
Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign doubled down on the troubling rhetoric used over the weekend by the former president in which he called his political enemies “vermin” who must be destroyed.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Saturday, “In honor of our great Veterans on Veteran’s Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country, lie, steal, and cheat on Elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American Dream.”
Trump concluded, “The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave, than the threat from within. Despite the hatred and anger of the Radical Left Lunatics who want to destroy our Country, we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump’s rhetoric aimed at his fellow citizens was widely condemned and quickly compared to that of fascist dictators who scapegoated groups of people in order to rise to power. “Trump Compares Political Foes To ‘Vermin’ On Veterans Day—Echoing Nazi Propaganda,” read a headline in Forbes on Trump’s post.
The Washington Post’s coverage of Trump’s attack included a reaction from Timothy Naftali, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, who said, “The language is the language that dictators use to instill fear. When you dehumanize an opponent, you strip them of their constitutional rights to participate securely in a democracy because you’re saying they’re not human. That’s what dictators do.”
Trump’s campaign spokesman reacted to the far-reaching criticism by doubling down and repeating Trump’s call to eradicate his domestic enemies. Steven Cheung told the Post in response that “those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.”
