US Election 2024: Donald Trump denies he's a 'Nazi' amid accusations he's 'fan' of Hitler

Donald Trump has been forced to deny he is a " Nazi " after his presidential campaign became engulfed in accusations he was a fan of Adolf Hitler.

With less than a week before America goes to the polls on Tuesday, the former president found himself refuting claims he was a fan of the German leader. "I'm not a Nazi," he told a packed crowd in Atlanta, Georgia, a crucial swing state in his bitter race against Kamala Harris.

Trump took a swipe at those questioning his political beliefs and the direction of his campaign, calling such claims "disgusting and just horrible." "The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn't voting for her is a Nazi," he said.

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Trump then told an anecdote about how his father told him to avoid saying Hitler or Nazi, in what he said was a contrast to his rival's campaign who, "use both words freely." "They say 'he's Hitler,' and then they say 'he's a Nazi.' I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite of a Nazi."

Trump's unusual statement comes amid mounting scrutiny. In a recent interview with his former Chief of Staff, retired General John Kelly, branded Trump a "fascist" and claimed that he had once praised Hitler, saying "Hitler did some good things too."

The damning comments reignited a debate about his beliefs seeing his opponents seize on their use. Harris has been crisscrossing Michigan, using Kelly's words to highlight what she warns could be Trump's drift toward authoritarianism.

In Detroit, she urged voters to reject his "dangerous rhetoric," telling them, "It's time to come together, not to tear each other apart." Later in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at a rally with her running mate Tim Walz and a crowd of around 20,000, she described how "so much is on the line" on November 5.

" Donald Trump is even more unstable and more unhinged, and now he wants unchecked power," she said. Trump's appearance in Atlanta came just a day after a highly controversial rally at New York's Madison Square Garden, where his allies took the stage.

Critics, including several public figures, likened the rally to a notorious 1939 pro-Nazi rally held in the very same venue. The remarks from speakers drew backlash for their crude and racist tone, and the rally quickly became a lightning rod for critics who argue that Trump's words echoed a dark period in history.

They included comedian Tony Hincliffe saying: "There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico." Trump's team has dismissed the latest round of accusations as "politically motivated fiction" and questioned the timing of Kelly's claims.

The former president said the attack was a tactic to undercut his base and depress voter turnout. "They're desperate to take us down," he told supporters in Atlanta, urging them to "prove them wrong" at the ballot box.

The allegations come at a delicate moment in the campaign as both Trump and Harris vie for support from crucial swing-state voters who could tip the election. The latest opinion polls suggest it is too close to call, fuelling fears Trump could again refuse to recognise a defeat, as in 2020, if he loses.

More than 47 million Americans have already cast ballots in early voting - including outgoing President Joe Biden, who voted on Monday near his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
Last night, Harris made the “closing argument” for her presidential campaign from the same site where Trump fomented the Capitol insurrection in 2021.

She hoped the backdrop would offer a stark visual of the alternate futures that voters face if she or Trump takes over the Oval Office in just three months. Harris was set to make her address from the grassy Ellipse near the White House, to pledge to Americans that she’ll work to improve their lives while arguing her Republican opponent is only in it for himself.

With time running out and the race razor-tight, Harris and Trump have both been looking for big moments to try to shift the momentum. But after her speech in Washington DC, Harris is set to be back to furiously scouring for votes one rally and one event after another in the battleground states.

“It’s a place that certainly we believe helps crystalise the choice in this election,” said Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon of the Ellipse, calling it “A stark visualization of probably the most infamous example of Donald Trump and how he’s used his power for bad.”

Aides said the vice president aimed to make a case for why voters should reject Trump and consider what she offers. “There’s a big difference between he and I,” Harris she said.

“If he were elected, on day one he’s going to sit in the Oval Office working on his enemies list. On day one, if I am elected, which I fully expect to be, I will be working on behalf of the American people on my to-do list.”

Her campaign hoped to draw a massive crowd to Washington for the event. But, more critically, her campaign hopes the setting will help catch the attention of battleground state voters who remain undecided about whom to vote for or whether to vote at all.

It comes days after Harris travelled to Texas, a reliably Republican state, to appear with megastar Beyoncé and emphasize the consequences for women after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that protected abortion rights.

That, too, was a speech meant to register with voters far away in the battleground states. The vice president’s latest address had been in the works for weeks. But aides hoped her message would land with more impact after Sunday’s Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, where speakers hurled cruel and racist insults.

Harris said the event “highlighted the point that I’ve been making throughout this campaign.”
“He is focused and actually fixated on his grievances, on himself and on dividing our country,” she said.

The Democrat is expected to use her speech to lay out a pragmatic and forward-looking plan for the country, including reminding voters about her economic proposals and pledging to staunchly work for access to reproductive care, including abortion. “That stark contrast has real power when she’s delivering solutions and Trump is sowing division and hate,” added O’Malley Dillon.

Also central to her message was positioning herself as a “new generation” of leader after Trump and even her current boss, Joe Biden. She's going to be “talking about what her new generation of leadership really means and centering that around the American people and what they care about," O’Malley Dillon said. As for Trump, Harris said: “People are literally ready to turn the page. They’re tired of it.”

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