Co-hosts of "The View" drew parallels between former President Donald Trump and Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini Wednesday.
While comparing politicians to murderous dictators is a common political insult, "The View's" co-host Joy Behar followed up the Trump comparison by noting that Mussolini and his mistress were executed and desecrated in a humiliating fashion toward the end of World War II.
Earlier in the segment, co-host Whoopi Goldberg spoke about the controversies facing Trump amid his third campaign for the White House, warning that he and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are aspiring dictators. She claimed, "I never thought in my lifetime that I would see this country come as close to dictatorship as I’ve seen, ever."
Alyssa Farah Griffin, who herself served as an aide in Trump’s White House, claimed that Trump’s team has since been plotting to "grow the executive branch and the powers of the presidency" if he wins a second term.
Sarah Haines agreed this could lead to "the elimination of checks and balances."
After claiming she has been a "conservative" for longer than Trump has been, Griffin slammed him "growing the federal government and the power of one man," as not only antithetical to small-government conservatism ideals, but "inching toward dictatorship."
"Let's call it what it is, dictatorship," Goldberg agreed.
"And he also wanted to do things like, sort of, consolidating things like, let's say, the EPA under the regulatory agencies under the executive branch," Sunny Hostin said as an example of Trump's dictatorship. The Environmental Protection Agency is part of the executive branch and its administrator is appointed by the president, subject to confirmation in the Senate.
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Behar replied, "That particular brand of fascism and bigotry might work in Florida, but it’s not going to work in New York, it's not going to work in certain cities in this country."
Hostin then drew the specific comparison between Trump and Mussolini, arguing Mussolini had the "same thought" as Trump "that he was going to take away these, sort of, individual agencies and place them under his power, and he was quite successful doing that."
"But do you know what the Italians did to Mussolini? They hung him upside-down in a square in Milan, and his girlfriend," Behar noted as the audience cheered.
