前四星海军上将、前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的前幕僚长约翰·凯利(John Kelly)周二以令人震惊的公开方式抨击了他的前老板——距离选举日只有两周。
凯利此前一直避免如此公开地讨论他在白宫的时光，他在接受采访时说这纽约英国泰晤士报(1785 年创刊)特朗普对使用军队打击“内部敌人”的讨论——用特朗普的话说，包括民主党的敌人——促使他站出来。在他发表上述言论之前，其他几位知名的前政府官员，包括那些有军事经验的官员，对特朗普是否适合担任公职表示了担忧。
凯利说:“我认为，动用军队追捕美国公民是一件非常非常糟糕的事情，即使是出于当选的政治目的这样说，我也认为这是一件非常非常糟糕的事情，更不用说实际这么做了。”。
这位前将军毫不隐瞒，认为特朗普符合“法西斯主义者”的标准。
“嗯，看看法西斯主义的定义:它是一种极右专制、极端民族主义的政治意识形态和运动，其特征是独裁领导人、中央集权、军国主义、武力镇压反对派、信奉自然的社会等级制度，”他告诉《泰晤士报》。
“所以，当然，以我的经验来看，这些是他认为在管理美国方面会更好的事情，”他补充说。
凯利继续解释说，特朗普曾说他想要像阿道夫·希特勒那样的将军，凯利认为这一评论令人震惊，并告诉这位前总统不要重复。
虽然特朗普没有明确回应希特勒的指控，但他确实说“关于士兵的故事是谎言，就像他讲述的其他许多故事一样”在一个岗位上在他的真实社交平台上，称凯利为“彻底的堕落者”
“尽管我不应该在他身上浪费时间，但我总觉得有必要回击以追求真相。约翰·凯利是个卑鄙小人，是个坏将军，我在白宫不再征求他的意见，并告诉他继续前进!”特朗普写道。
凯利的言论虽然令人震惊，但来自一名获得如此高军衔的退伍军人，只是特朗普政府前高级官员的最新言论。
特朗普手下的退休陆军上将、前参谋长联席会议主席马克·米利(Mark Milley)告诉记者鲍勃·伍德沃德，特朗普是“彻头彻尾的法西斯主义者”
“他是有史以来最危险的人。当我和你谈及他的智力衰退等问题时，我有所怀疑，但现在我意识到他是个彻头彻尾的法西斯主义者。他现在是这个国家最危险的人，”他说。
特朗普的前国防部长马克·埃斯珀本月早些时候表示，他担心特朗普会动用军队来对付他的国内批评者，并且在假设的第二个任期内，他可能会减少护栏。
“我的感觉是，他倾向于在这些情况下使用军队，而我的观点是，军队扮演的角色不好。只有执法部门才应该采取这些行动，”斯珀在CNN上说。
“我认为特朗普总统已经明白，关键是让你周围的人听从你的命令，不会反抗，会实施你想做的事情。我认为他谈到了这一点，他的追随者也谈到了这一点，我认为忠诚将是第一个试金石，”他补充说。
特朗普在整个任期内也赞扬了独裁主义者，包括吹嘘俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京和中国领导人习近平的情报，称朝鲜强人金正恩“强硬”，并大肆赞扬匈牙利领导人欧尔班。
特朗普的竞选活动回击了这些前官员，包括周二对凯利的抨击。
发言人张致恒在一份声明中说:“约翰·凯利完全被自己编造的这些被揭穿的故事所迷惑，因为他在担任幕僚长期间未能很好地为总统服务，目前患有令人虚弱的特朗普神经病综合症。”。
“特朗普总统一直尊重我们所有男女军人的服务和牺牲，而卡玛拉·哈里斯完全不尊重那些做出最终牺牲的人的家人，包括修道院13号门，”他补充说，指的是在美国从阿富汗撤军期间丧生的13名服役人员。
凯利的最新言论令人瞠目结舌，因为提前投票已经开始，川普和副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯正在争取一小部分但很重要的未决选民。
周三早上，哈里斯竞选团队抓住凯利的评论，推出共和党前军事领导人，既打击特朗普，又强调凯利出人意料的公开言论的严重性。
“我有幸在他身边工作，我知道他以这种方式说话对他来说不是一小步，”凯文·卡罗尔说，他在特朗普担任国土安全部部长时担任凯利的高级顾问。
史蒂夫·安德森准将嘲笑特朗普“没有资格参军——他有34项重罪——所以，我们怎么能让总司令掌管一支他不可能加入的军队?”
哈里斯的竞选团队警告说，选民应该听取那些在特朗普担任总统期间与他并肩工作的人的意见。
“最了解他的人告诉我们，特朗普精神错乱，追求不受制约的权力，这会让我们所有人都处于危险之中。我们都应该倾听，”哈里斯竞选团队发言人伊恩·萨姆斯在一份声明中说。
然而，自2015年以来，关于特朗普性格的全国辩论基本上没有减弱，这让共和党人怀疑最新的评论是否会对选民产生影响。
共和党民调专家罗伯特·暴雪说，“很难相信这将是民主党的‘啊，抓住你了’时刻。”
“我很难相信会有一个选民对唐纳德·特朗普没有坚定的看法。他们自己也得出这个结论，我无法想象这些普通选民从未听说过的人会改变这种看法，”一名前特朗普政府高级官员补充道。
尽管如此，距离选举日还有不到两周的时间，两个竞选团队都在叫嚣着要获得任何优势，哪怕只是微小的优势。
共和党民调专家惠特·艾尔斯(Whit Ayres)说:“在这个阶段，真的很难改变现状，但与特朗普日常密切合作的人的评论比几乎任何其他事情都更有可能改变现状。”
John Kelly comes out swinging against Trump, says he fits 'fascist' definition
John Kelly, a former four-star Marine general and former chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, hammered his old boss in a stunningly public fashion on Tuesday -- just two weeks before Election Day.
Kelly, who had previously refrained from discussing his time in the White House so openly, said in expansive interviews withTheNew YorkTimesthat Trump's discussion of using the military against the "enemy within" -- who, in Trump's words included Democratic foes -- pushed him to come forward. His comments come after several other prominent former administration officials, including those with military experience, expressed concern about Trump's fitness for office.
"And I think this issue of using the military on -- to go after -- American citizens is one of those things I think is a very, very bad thing -- even to say it for political purposes to get elected -- I think it's a very, very bad thing, let alone actually doing it," Kelly said.
The former general held nothing back, arguing that Trump could fit the bill of a "fascist."
"Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It's a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy," he told The Times.
"So, certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America," he added.
Kelly went on to explain that Trump had said he wanted generals like those that Adolf Hitler had, a comment that Kelly found shocking and told the former president not to repeat.
While Trump didn't specifically address the Hitler allegation, he did say "the story about the soldiers was A LIE, as are numerous other stories he told,"in a poston his Truth Social platform, calling Kelly a "total degenerate."
"Even though I shouldn’t be wasting my time with him, I always feel it’s necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH. John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON!" Trump wrote.
The remarks from Kelly, while astounding coming from a veteran who attained such a high ranking in uniform, is just the latest to come from a former senior official in Trump's administration.
Mark Milley, a retired Army general and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, told journalist Bob Woodward that Trump is a "fascist to the core."
"He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he's a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country," he said.
Mark Esper, Trump's former defense secretary, said earlier this month that he feared Trump would use the military against his domestic critics and that he would likely have fewer guardrails in a hypothetical second term.
"My sense is his inclination is to use the military in these situations whereas my view is that's a bad role for the military. It should only be law enforcement taking those actions," Esper said on CNN.
"I think President Trump has learned, the key is getting people around you who will do your bidding, who will not push back, who will implement what you want to do. And I think he's talked about that, his acolytes have talked about that, and I think loyalty will be the first litmus test," he added.
Trump throughout his tenure has also praised authoritarians, including boasting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's intelligence, calling North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un "tough" and heaping praise on Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
Trump's campaign has hit back at the former officials, including going after Kelly on Tuesday.
"John Kelly has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated because he failed to serve his President well while working as Chief of Staff and currently suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
"President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women, whereas Kamala Harris has completely disrespected the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including the Abbey Gate 13," he added, referencing the 13 service members killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The latest eye-popping comments from Kelly come as early voting is already underway and Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris fight for a small but significant slice of undecided voters.
The Harris campaign on Wednesday morning seized on Kelly's comments, rolling out Republican former military leaders to both hammer Trump and underscore the seriousness of Kelly's surprisingly public remarks.
"I had the honor of working aside him, and I know him speaking out this way was no small step for him," said Kevin Carroll, who served as senior counsel to Kelly when he was Homeland Security secretary under Trump.
Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson mocked the fact that Trump "couldn't qualify to be in the military -- he has 34 felony convictions -- so, how can we have the commander-in-chief be in charge of a military that he couldn't possibly join?"
Harris' campaign warned that voters should listen to those who have worked alongside Trump while he was president.
"The people who know him best are telling us Trump is unhinged and pursuing unchecked power that would put us all at risk. We should all listen," Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement.
However, national debate over Trump's character has raged largely unabated since 2015, leaving Republicans skeptical the latest comments will make an impact with voters.
GOP pollster Robert Blizzard said it's "hard to believe this is going to be the 'ah, gotcha now' moment for Democrats."
"I have a difficult time believing there is a single voter that doesn't have a hard and fast opinion on Donald Trump. They've come to that conclusion themselves, and I can't imagine these people, who the average voter has never heard of, change that opinion," added a former senior Trump administration official.
Still, with less than two weeks to go until Election Day, both campaigns are clamoring for any edge they can get, even if only marginal.
"It's really hard to move the needle at this stage, but comments from people who have worked closely with Trump on a daily basis are more likely to move the needle than almost anything else," said Republican pollster Whit Ayres.
