Disgraced ex-CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather appeared on Wednesday’s Rachel Maddow Show to attack Donald Trump. In the process, the journalist smeared conservative icon Barry Goldwater. Asked about Trump’s policy of banning all Muslims from America, Rather excoriated, “[Trump’s] related to the candidacy of the late George Wallace. Barry Goldwater, if you will. Huey Long. He’s in that line.”
Given Rather’s liberal leanings, it’s not surprising he would lump the 1964 presidential candidate in with racists and reactionaries like Wallace and Long. Naturally, there was no push-back from Maddow. Ignoring the historical comparison, she wondered if Trump is a fascist.
Maddow quizzed:
RACHEL MADDOW: Fascism is a political construct that has given rise to real political movements that have both run countries and that have tried to run countries and that have been substantive movements even in countries that we think of as being a lot like ours, France, Britain, since World War II. One of the hallmarks of fascism is that the party leader is the great leader who can do things by sheer force of energetic will. It's characterized by willing in es to toy with violence even in political settings, chauvinism, obviously, xenophobia, different forms of racism or anti-Semitism. Is it unfair to invoke a concept that inflammatory and that weighted for this current political situation we've got with the front-runner on the Republican side?
Rather insisted that Trump hasn’t reached that level “yet.”
A partial transcript is below:
Rachel Maddow
12/09/15
9:31RACHEL MADDOW: Joining us now for the interview is Dan Rather, former CBS Evening News anchor, now the president of News and Guts Media. Mr. Rather, pleasure to have you here.
RATHER: Always a pleasure to be here.
MADDOW: I have — we have talked about Donald Trump in the past. I have to ask with this proposal from him about banning Muslims from the United States. Is this unprecedented in modern American politics?
RATHER: Yes. I think the answer is yes, unprecedented. He’s related to the candidacy of the late George Wallace. Barry Goldwater, if you will. Huey Long. He’s in that line. But we’ve not been as a people, as a country, as a society, we’ve not been in this territory before — someone saying we should limit immigration into the country based on religion. This is something unique and new.
...MADDOW: Fascism is a political construct that has given rise to real political movements that have both run countries and that have tried to run countries and that have been substantive movements even in countries that we think of as being a lot like ours, France, Britain, since World War II. One of the hallmarks of fascism is that the party leader is the great leader who can do things by sheer force of energetic will. It’s characterized by willing in es to toy with violence even in political settings, chauvinism, obviously, xenophobia, different forms of racism or anti-Semitism. Is it unfair to invoke a concept that inflammatory and that weighted for this current political situation we’ve got with the front-runner on the Republican side?
RATHER: For me, the answer to that is yes. I don’t think Trump has reached that point yet. Don’t misunderstand me — I’m going to be very clear. What he said about immigration and limiting immigrants, this is the best propaganda tool that ISIS has had in a very long time. It’s also good news to the Democrats and Hillary Clinton. But directly answering your question -- no, I don’t think he’s at that point yet. I think it is unfair to call him a fascist.
