On Sunday's AM Joy on MSNBC, during a discussion of European reaction to President Donald Trump's ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, MSNBC contributor and Daily Beast world news editor Christopher Dickey asserted that most Europeans believe Trump is "out of his mind," and charged that he is behaving like an "autocrat."
He went on to implicitly suggest that Trump is behaving like a fascist or a Nazi as he predicted that right-wing politicians in Europe would fail in the near future because Europeans "remember what fascism was like," adding, "In the United States, we've been spared that, at least up until now." For her part, host Joy Reid oddly referred to the possibility of political right-wing victories over much of Europe as being like a "glorious sort of Leninist revolution of white Christian nationalists."
At 10:30 a.m. ET, the MSNBC host brought aboard Dickey who was appearing from Paris and asked him what European sentiments were about President Trump's immigration plans. He took aim at Trump as he began:
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, I think people here generally and especially people in European governments think that Trump has lost his mind, and that the United States government is rabidly moving out of any kind of control, any kind of stability that's been known in the past. I think people are really genuinely worried.
The Daily Beast editor then suggested that America's enemies are more likely to approve of Trump's actions as he added:
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The people who are really enthusiastic about this are, for instance, the hardliners in Iran, the leaders of the so-called Islamic State. They think this is just great because they see America as an idea being undermined hugely by Trump's policies. And they also see the basic chaos in the way the country is running as he tries to act like an autocrat in what has traditionally been a genuine democracy.
A bit later, Dickey suggested that the U.S. is becoming fascist under President Trump:
If we'd talked a month ago, I would have said, for instance, right-wing leader Marine le Pen had a pretty good chance of winning the presidency of France in a few months. Now, I think she's going to be hurt by her relationship with Trump and by the kinds of things he's doing. People don't want this kind of leadership. And remember, Joy, in Europe, they have historical memories. They remember what fascism was like. In the United States, we've been spared that, at least up until now.
Reid then used her "Leninist revolution" line as she responded:
Yeah, and I think that you make a very good point because the Bannon theory is that Trump-ism and Brexit-ism will sweep across Europe in this glorious sort of Leninist revolution of white Christian nationalists around Europe. But what you're saying is that the opposite might happen.
