Former President Donald Trump is hitting back after his former White House chief of staff John Kelly claimed Trump praised Hitler and his generals.
"Thank you for your support against a total degenerate named John Kelly, who made up a story out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome Hatred," Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. "This guy had two qualities, which don't work well together. He was tough and dumb. The problem is his toughness morphed into weakness, because he became Jello with time!"
John Kelly warned in Tuesday interviews with The New York Times and The Atlantic the Republican nominee meets the definition of a fascist and his former boss suggested the Nazi leader "did some good things."
Kelly has long been critical of Trump and previously accused him of calling veterans killed in combat "suckers" and "losers."
In his interview with the Atlantic, Kelly recalled that when Trump raised the idea of needing "German generals," Kelly would ask if he meant "Bismarck's generals," referring to Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor who oversaw the unification of Germany.
"Surely you can't mean Hitler's generals," Kelly recalled asking Trump – to which the former president responded, "Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals."
Trump said the stories Kelly told were lies.
"Even though I shouldn't be wasting my time with him, I always feel it's necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH," he added. "John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON! His wife once told me, at Camp David, John admires you tremendously, and when he leaves the Military, he will only speak well of you. I said thank you."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.