Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson (D) ripped President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening for his “dangerous” rally that was out of the “fascist playbook,” warning Americans to think about how Hitler came to power in Nazi Germany.
“The president’s talk tonight was more than discouraging. The president’s talk tonight was dangerous. And it’s very important for Americans to see that talk and for all patriotic Americans, whether on the left or right, to be very clear that we don’t do that in America,” Williamson told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “Our political opponents are not our enemies. You didn’t hear talk like that from Ronald Reagan or from George W. Bush or from George Bush Sr. when talking about Democrats. That’s not what we do here.”
Williamson, the spiritual adviser and author who has advised Oprah Winfrey, even suggested a link between Trump and the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany when speaking about the “send her back” chants directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
“And this is so far away from the traditions of democracy that when your former guests were trying to talk about has anything like this ever happened in America, the question is not has anything like this ever happened in America. We need to think about how it happened in Germany,” she continued. “We need to be very, very serious and take this very seriously because the president has said this is how he’s going to run this campaign. The way he was talking about four elected officials, these women are U.S. Congresspeople. We don’t do this in America.”
She said Americans, regardless of political affiliation, “need to be very, very clear that there is a level of honorable debate, and that is not honorable debate. That is the demonization of political opponents that are absolutely in every fascist playbook.”
Williamson, who has qualified for the second debate but is not likely to qualify for the others, is arguing that only the politics of “love” can beat Trump’s politics of hate.
“I have an idea about Donald Trump: Donald Trump is not going to be beaten just by insider politics talk. He’s not going to be beaten just by somebody who has plans. He’s going to be beaten by somebody who has an idea what the man has done. This man has reached into the psyche of the American people and he has harnessed fear for political purposes,” Wiliamson said at the last debate. “So, Mr. President — if you’re listening — I want you to hear me please: You have harnessed fear for political purposes and only love can cast that out. So I, sir, I have a feeling you know what you’re doing. I’m going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field, and sir, love will win.”