Donald Trump says Adolf Hitler 'did some good things,' Biden hits out

NEW YORK – US President Joe Biden’s team slammed a statement allegedly made by former president Donald Trump, where he said that Adolf Hitler “did some good things.”

The statement is not corroborated. It was provided by Trump’s former chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, in an interview with CNN.

CNN's Jim Sciutto released snippets of his interview with Kelly that he conducted for his new book "The Return of Great Powers: Russia, China, and the Next World War," as well as bits of his interview with former national security adviser John Bolton. 

"The former president’s admiration for autocrats has been reported on before, but in comments by Trump recounted to me for my new book, 'The Return of Great Powers,' out Tuesday, Kelly and others who served under Trump give new insight into why they warn that a man who consistently praises autocratic leaders opposed to US interests is ill-suited to lead the country in the Great Power clashes that could be coming, telling me they believe that the root of his admiration for these figures is that he envies their power," Scuitto wrote for CNN. 

Scuitto's reporting alleges Trump's praise of Hitler, which Kelly recounted. 

Trump 'admired Hitler's rebuilding of the German economy'

According to Kelly, Trump admired Hitler's rebuilding of the German economy and his "tough guy" perception while failing to recognize the Holocaust and the devastating loss of American soldiers. 

"Trump’s admiration for Hitler went further than the German leader’s economic policies, according to Kelly. Trump also expressed admiration for Hitler’s hold on senior Nazi officers. Trump lamented that Hitler, as Kelly recounted, maintained his senior staff’s 'loyalty,' while Trump himself often did not," Scuitto wrote. 

According to the Biden campaign, Scuitto's reporting confirms that Trump ignored the Holocaust and American lives lost in World War II to praise one of history's most notorious dictators. 

"This isn’t leadership – it’s a betrayal of our values that’s beneath the office of the President," the campaign said. 

Scuitto's reporting comes days after Trump hosted Hungarian's autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at his private Florida residence. 

"I think we speak for the VAST majority of human beings on planet Earth when we say that Adolf Hitler did not — in fact – do ‘good things,'" according to a campaign spokesperson. 

“Donald Trump’s praise for Hitler is disgraceful but wholly unsurprising from the man who has parroted Nazi rhetoric on the campaign trail, called his political opponents ‘vermin,’ and sucked up to dictators and authoritarians like Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orbán, Kim Jong Un, and the rest of the gang. When Donald Trump talks like a dictator, praises dictators, and says he wants to be a dictator, we should probably believe him," the campaign said. 

The Post has reached out to the Republican Jewish Coalition, which last week endorsed Trump for the presidential election.