Kelly Amnesia: Democrats once questioned general’s ethics, but now embrace his anti-Trump story

In a a series of pre-election interviews, Donald Trump’s ex-chief of staff and former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the former president “falls into the general definition of fascist” and wanted the “kind of generals Hitler had.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign echoed and amplified these allegations immediately, but it seems either she and her Democratic colleagues have short memories or they are banking voters don’t know the history.

Just a few short years ago, Democrats frequently criticized Kelly under the Trump administration and raised ethics concerns about the former secretary.

“Folks, the guardrails are gone. Trump is descending into this madness—a former president of the United States and the candidate for president of the United States says he wants generals like Adolf Hitler had,” Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at a Tuesday rally. 

Trump’s campaign shot back at the claims and vehemently denied them. “This is absolutely false. President Trump never said this,” said campaign adviser Alex Pfeiffer.

This is not the first time Kelly claimed Donald Trump admired Adolf Hitler’s generals. In the 2022 book "The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021," journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser alleged that Trump asked then-Chief of Staff Kelly “Why can’t you be like the German generals?”

Trump reportedly insisted the generals were loyal to the dictator of the Third Reich, with the implication being that he wanted more personal loyalty from the military brass. 

But, other top advisors and officials have steadfastly denied that Trump ever said anything like what Kelly claims. 

On Wednesday, Harris followed her wingman, ripping Trump over the alleged comments. “It is deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler…this is a window into who Donald Trump is from the people who know him best,” she said in a statement in front of the Naval Observatory, the official vice presidential residence. 

Harris also accused her opponent of seeking “unchecked power” and warned that his tendencies would be unchecked by people like John Kelly in the event he is elected. 

“Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions,” Harris asserted. 

Democrats called Kelly "Indecent. Immoral. Corrupt."

Harris and her supporters aren't talking about the fact that years ago, when Kelly was serving in various roles under the Trump Administration, Democrats frequently criticized the retired general for faithfully implementing tough immigration policies and raised ethics concerns when he joined a company with federal contracts to detain migrants after his government role.

“General Kelly is a hypocrite who is a disgrace to the uniform he used to wear,” then-Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutiérrez said of Kelly when Trump announced the DACA immigration program would expire. The Washington Post pilloried Kelly, saying he "calls Robert E. Lee an ‘honorable man’ and said ‘lack of compromise’ caused the Civil War. 

"Indecent. Immoral. Corrupt," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D.-Ore., tweeted after Kelly joined a for-profit parent company whose subsidiary has federal contracts to detain migrants at centers. 

Even  Harris herself, then a California senator, sharply criticized Kelly during the Trump Administration over his testimony to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, saying he has an “inability to speak truth to power to this administration” and lacked a “grasp of the implications of the policy perspectives he was supporting.” 

Kelly drew ire from the Democrats throughout his stint as Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security even after he was confirmed by a bipartisan Senate majority. Many Democrats developed buyers remorse after the new secretary moved to strictly enforce the new administration’s immigration policy. 

For example, his agency increased arrests of immigrants without a criminal background even though he had publicly declared he would prioritize those who had committed crimes for removal from the country. 

“I think Secretary Kelly has drank the Kool-Aid,” now-disgraced Sen. Robert Menendez, the Democrat from New Jersey, told Politico in 2017. “He’s not the person who I thought I was voting for.”

“The role, the mission of the agency is a very important one, which I support 1,000 percent,” then-Senator Harris said. “But when it comes to transparency and a clear guidance around what the [immigration] enforcement priorities will be at the agency, I have real questions and real concerns.”

He also drew fire from Democrats for defending Donald Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban,” an executive order restricting entry into the United States by foreign nationals from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. 

Conflicts of interest probed

In 2017, the news outlet The Intercept raised questions about Kelly's ethics, saying that "Kelly did not disclose his position as a vice chairman at a lobbying firm called the Spectrum Group on his federal ethics forms made public this week, potentially running afoul of the law." Office of Government Ethics rules require nominees to list all organization positions and memberships, even if they are uncompensated. There are exceptions for “honorific” positions, but Kelly’s position at the Spectrum Group is advertised as a business position and his association with the firm was clearly being used to generate client interest in the firm. 

The Intercept also reported that Kelly’s role with the Spectrum Group is nowhere to be found on his financial disclosure report nor his letter to the designated ethics official at the Department of Homeland Security informing the department that he will resign his private sector positions once confirmed.

“If Gen. Kelly joined Spectrum Group before filing his disclosure report, he should have disclosed not only his position and any related income, but also the specific foreign and private interests that paid $5,000 or more for his services,” says Bryson Morgan, an attorney with Caplin & Drysdale who previously served as an official at the Office of Congressional Ethics, the agency that oversees nominee disclosure forms.

After Kelly’s tenure at Homeland Security, he served for a little more than a year as Trump’s chief of staff before leaving that role in late 2018 for the private sector. He again drew criticism from Democrats for immediately joining the board of Caliburn International, a parent company to the group that ran four migrant shelters under scrutiny from Democrats. Prior to joining the Trump Administration, Kelly was on the board of advisors of DC Capital Partners which acquired Caliburn. 

"After implementing one of the cruelest immigration agendas in our nation’s history, disgraced Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly will now profit from detaining immigrant children and families. Unbelievable,” former San Antonio Mayor and then-presidential candidate Julián Castro tweeted. 

Profiting from "the same cruel plans"

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said the former secretary was engaging in corruption by seeking to profit from his government service as the nation’s chief immigration official.  

"John Kelly oversaw many of the Trump Admin's most morally repugnant immigration policies. Now he could be making big bucks serving on the Board of a company that's profiting from the same cruel plans he put in place. This is corruption at its absolute worst,” Warren wrote. 

Warren would go on to probe the company along with her House colleague Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., over the hiring of Kelly and the ethical questions considering its multimillion dollar federal contracts. 

Former Trump acting National Security Advisor and advisor Keith Kellogg took to X to defend the the former president Wednesday after the allegations resurfaced and were invoked by Harris. 

“Vice President Harris is a fraud. I was in the White House at a senior level much longer than General Kelly. He is complicit in this fraud and has lied to the American people,” Kellogg wrote. “His lies…are a disservice to Nation at this critical time. So are the VP’s.” 

Vice President Mike Pence’s former chief of staff, Nick Ayers also chimed in, saying Kelly’s comments are “patently false.” 

“I’ve avoided commenting on intra-staff leaks or rumors or even lies as it relates to my time at the White House but General Kelly’s comments regarding President Trump are too egregious to ignore,” he posted to X. “I was with each of them more than most, and his commentary is ‘patently false.’”