‘I’m beginning to see what happened in Germany’: Democrat compares Trump refusing to concede to rise of Hitler

‘How do you elect a person president, then all of a sudden you’re going to give him the authority to be dictator? That’s what Hitler did in Germany.’

A top Democrat on Capitol Hill has compared President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede to “what Hitler did in Germany” during a new interview as criticism grows over the president’s anti-Democratic attacks on the electoral process.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D—SC) said on Tuesday night he was concerned the president was attempting to take on an authoritarian role despite losing to President-elect Joe Biden in the 2020 US elections and urged Americans to defend the results of the election.

Speaking to CNN’s Chris Cuomo, the House majority whip said: “I’m beginning to see what happened in Germany back in the 1930s. I never thought that could happen in this country.”

“How do you elect a person president, then all of a sudden you’re going to give him the authority to be dictator?” He continued. “That’s what Hitler did in Germany.”

Mr Clyburn noted on Tuesday how Hitler “successfully discredited the news media” in his quest to hold onto power and become a dictator.

“I cannot see that happening here,” the Democrat said. “If it did, that means that the American people are much more — or less, I should say, intelligent than I think they are.”

His comments come as Mr Trump and his close allies launch an all-out assault on the national electoral process, with vote challenges in key states Mr Biden flipped to the Democrats when the official projections were announced last week.

Mr Trump has falsely claimed long before Election Day that he could only lose if the vote was systematically rigged across the country. He has frequently continued posting outright lies about the electoral process, as well as misinformation and misleading social media posts that major platforms have been forced to flag for their users.

The president lost the election with just 214 projected electoral votes. At least 270 electoral voters are required to secure the White House. Mr Biden was projected to have won 273 electoral votes — as well as an estimated five million more votes in total than the Republican incumbent. 

This story was updated at 11:24 a.m. to remove a statement from Rep. James Clyburn saying Adolf Hitler was elected chancellor in Germany. Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933.