Former Bush DOJer John Yoo: Trump ‘Reminds Me A Lot Of Early Mussolini’

FILE - In this June 26, 2008 file photo, John Yoo testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Yoo face the rare prospect of being held personally liable for alleged violations o... FILE - In this June 26, 2008 file photo, John Yoo testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Yoo face the rare prospect of being held personally liable for alleged violations of individuals' rights in the aggressive aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) MORE LESS
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Donald Trump’s “only I can fix it” rhetoric is giving off authoritarian vibes, some conservatives are admitting, including John Yoo, the George W. Bush administration lawyer who authored the so-called “torture memos.”

Yoo told the Washington Post that Trump “reminds me a lot of early Mussolini,” calling the comparison “very disturbingly similar.”

His comment comes as even Trump’s supporters have explicitly equated him to authoritarianism.

“We need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law,” Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) told a local radio show this week.

Yoo went on, in the Washington Post story, to criticize Trump’s vow to use a special prosecutor to re-open the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email as “a compounded stupidity.”

“If you are a Republican or a conservative, you think that special prosecutors are unconstitutional,” Yoo said, adding that the idea would have the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia “rolling in his grave.”

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  1. Good point – Yoo isn’t necessarily saying that being Benito is such a bad thing. Given his track record, the rich, full-bodied taste of Mussolini is the perfect way for Yoo to start a new day in America.

  2. Yoo told the Washington Post that Trump “reminds me a lot of early Mussolini,” calling the comparison "very disturbingly similar.”

    Wow, what a coincidence, I liked the later Mussolini much more too!!
  3. I guess you can’t bullshit a bullshitter, except …

    Well, it seems like Trump’s entire voting base is composed of bullshitters.

  4. When President Trump wants to round up and deport 11 million people, extort Mexico into building his wall and institute a 35 percent tariff to target and punish individual corporations it’s the John Yoo’s of the world who will write the legal briefs to allow him to do it.

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