Congressman Boyle: Trump reminiscent of Hitler, Know-Nothings

The chair of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party and Congressman Brendan Boyle told assembled convention delegates that Donald Trump’s rise is akin to that of both Adolf Hitler and the murderous anti-immigrant mobs of the Civil War era.

Speaking at an official Democratic National Convention luncheon for Keystone State delegates at the Doubletree Hotel Philadelphia, state party chair Marcel Groen said his mother, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, told him that the Republican presidential candidate’s ascension reminded her of the fascist dictator’s consolidation of power.

“It’s a wonderful time to be a Democrat, but it’s also a scary time to be a Democrat,” he concluded.

Congressman Boyle took the stage shortly afterward, and seconded that the similarities between Trump and Hitler had deeply disturbed him. He also drew comparisons between Trump’s nationalist, anti-immigrant rhetoric and the 19th-century Anti-Irish “Know Nothing” movement.

“We are better than this as Americans,” Boyle said. “The good news is that in previous eras of American history, we have always rejected nativism. But we need people to recognize that the stakes of this election really are different – and much of that has to do with what has happened to the Republican party – and who they have nominated.”

He went on to warn delegates that a President Trump would roll back many of President Barack Obama’s accomplishments over the past eight years.

“Why in the world would we want to turn that back now?” Boyle asked, “especially to someone who proposes no new ideas. Not one. The only thing he proposes is who to blame.”

PA Lieut. Gov. Mike Stack also made an appearance to promote his support for criminal justice reforms and enhanced veterans assistance programs that he said would flourish under a Clinton presidency, despite Republican claims to be the party of military families.

“I served in the National Guard, and I’ll tell you something that can’t leave this room: A lot of National Guardsmen are Democrats,” he said.