Kelly's revelation about Trump's Nazi envy has Republicans shrugging their shoulders

Something tells me Fox News would react a little differently if we learned that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris once said she needed “the kind of Marxist guerrillas that Che Guevara had.”

Republicans and conservative commentators spent Wednesday reacting to the shocking revelations that Donald Trump, as president, said he needed “the kind of generals Hitler had” by essentially saying, “Okay, so what?”

On Fox News, host Brian Kilmeade broke the news – which came from John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general and Trump's former chief of staff – in a spectacularly stupid way with the terrible comment:

“I can definitely imagine him saying, ‘You know what? It would be great if there were German generals who actually do what we ask of them and maybe aren't fully aware of the third line of German generals who were Nazis or whatever.”

What? All of Adolf Hitler's generals were Nazis, you idiot. You can't shrug your shoulders at that and say, “You know, Trump was just crazy and trying to make a point.”

How can anyone defend Trump's blatantly Nazi-envious comments?

Something tells me Kilmeade would react a little differently if we learned that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris once said she needed “the kind of Marxist guerrillas that Che Guevara had.”

But this is Trump, so what's a little Nazi envy, I suppose? Kelly said in interviews with The New York Times and The Atlantic that Trump also regularly demeaned military veterans and claimed Hitler “did some good things.”

“You need to look in the mirror and realize that your shame will remain forever.”

It's notable that Kilmeade did not dispute whether Trump made these comments. Given the source, this makes sense. Kelly is an honorable patriot who has absolutely nothing to gain from telling this story. If anything, he puts himself in the position of being the first to be locked up if the former president wins. Trump, on the other hand, is a lying convicted criminal who no one in their right mind should trust.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney – a true conservative – posted on social media on Wednesday: “If you respond to General John Kelly, Gold Star father and Trump's WH chief of staff, confirming that Trump praised Hitler and called members of our military ' “I'm an idiot.'

Indeed.

GOP governor says Trump's extremism is 'ingrained in the vote'

Not to be outdone by Kilmeade in the sycophancy, Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, tried to tone down Trump's Nazi-admiring comments on CNN.

“I respect General Kelly, I think he's great, he has a long-term relationship with the president. These last few weeks are all about results, so of course salacious things will be said, so I'm not taking away from the general's conversation with the former president,” Sununu said.

Opinion: Voting for Trump or Harris means you fully support them. Accept it.

The governor then completely interrupted the general's conversation with the former president, deeming it no big deal and saying, “We've heard a lot of extreme things about Donald Trump from Donald Trump.” It's kind of par for the course. Unfortunately, with a man like that, it somehow factored into the vote at that point.”

How the hell are “Hitler did some good things” and “I wish I had generals like Hitler's” just things that are firmly established? Is Sununu’s view really, ‘So this guy likes Hitler, what should I do?’ Vote for a Lib?”

Shaking off a wish to Hitler's generals is never okay

We've been hearing a lot lately about people “sanitizing” Trump's rambling, incoherent ramblings to make them sound normal. But hearing people like Sununu and Kilmeade take Trump's views and give them a Nazi shrug is a whole different ball game.

Opinion: Trump's MAGA base may want to arm itself – Harris could win

Right-wing squeaker Ben Shapiro posted on social media that Kelly's comments — which did not echo those of retired Gen. Mark A. Milley, who said in a book that Trump was “fascist through and through” — “the left's latest adversary.” Media is “dump” and no one should care about it. He wrote that “people care about the quality of their lives.”

All right, buddy, I would argue that people's quality of life might go down a bit if we elect someone who holds such unhinged authoritarian beliefs. But soldiers like Kelly and Milley are also about as far from the left as you can get, and this wasn't an “Oppo dump,” but rather the words come straight from the mouths of two respected American figures.

There is one candidate who did Hitler no good

I will never understand how so many people lowered themselves to defend a man like Trump. But defenses don't matter much when someone says something indefensible.

As Cheney said, Kilmeade, Sununu and Shapiro and all the other sycophants out there who stand by their man can enjoy the shame they will carry for the rest of eternity.

I stand by the generally accepted view that all Nazis were bad, fascism sucks, and veterans deserve our respect and admiration.

And I certainly won't vote for anyone who thinks differently.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk