Outgoing GOPer Defends Free Press, Says Trump Could Lead To ‘Hitler-Like Character’

Former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) holding a news conference. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Outgoing Republican Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) on Wednesday warned of the dangers of accepting the term “fake news” and suggested that Trump’s presidency could eventually lead to the emergence of a “Hitler-like character.”

“I want to be clear and explicit that I am not likening Trump to Hitler, but the forces at play could lead to a future Hitler-like character if we don’t watch out,” he wrote on Facebook in a farewell statement. “It must be remembered that another thing that Benjamin Franklin said was that he who trades his freedom for security, deserves neither. Indeed, how true.”

“As a country, we have to get back to math that works. We are riding on the Titanic as it now stands. This will end tragically for all of us, if we don’t turn our spending habits around. Paul Kennedy wrote an interesting book a few years ago titled “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,” and again the dynamics that he talked about were once again simply tied to math,” he continued.

“We can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater with regard to institutions and traditions that have served our country well for more than 200 years. If we have no faith in our institutions and the people that populate them, our system breaks down.

“We must embrace the truth, and it will set us free. Open political systems cannot survive in a post-truth world. While none of us are perfect, and there will always be grey around some areas of truth, we cannot accept chronic streams of distruth. If everything is subjective, there is nothing to debate. If, on the other hand, there is objective truth, and I can approach it from the right while you approach it from a perspective more to the left, then we can join in debate. Without truth out in the middle, there is no starting point and the reasoned debate that an open political system relies on for its survival is strangled and dissipates.”

I hope that Christmas Day was great for you, family, and friends. Happy Post-Christmas, and before long, it will be…

Posted by Congressman Mark Sanford on Wednesday, December 26, 2018

The relationship between Sanford and Trump has been fraught for months and Trump’s Twitter attacks against the incumbent congressman helped sink his reelection bid during the primaries earlier this year.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for outis outis says:

    Define “could” . . .

  2. To hell with all of them. I didn’t hear any “concerns” before they left town. In essence they helped stoke the fire and then pulled the fire alarm just before they ran out of the building.

    True Rethugliklan heroism writ large.

  3. Avatar for erik_t erik_t says:

    I’m pretty sure that Hitler actually wrote Mein Kampf himself.

  4. "Outgoing Republican Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) on Wednesday warned of the dangers of accepting the term ‘fake news’ and suggested that Trump’s presidency could eventually lead to the emergence of a ‘Hitler-like character’.”

    Not much gets past Rep. von Papen.

  5. Of course he’s not referring to tRump, just someone that could come along and be and do some of the things that are happening now. But, of course, he’s not referring to tRump.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

109 more replies

Participants

Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for jootjoint Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for bluinmaine Avatar for kirkbross Avatar for skippyflipjack Avatar for 26degreesrising Avatar for lastroth Avatar for jkrogman Avatar for gr Avatar for keninmn Avatar for careysub Avatar for junebug Avatar for kwd101 Avatar for jesus_quintana Avatar for birdford Avatar for tiowally Avatar for erik_t Avatar for demosthenes59 Avatar for justruss Avatar for outis Avatar for gargoyle Avatar for haddockbranzini

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: