Maine US Rep. Pingree equates Trump’s NYC rally to pro-Nazi event

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine described Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s recent rally in New York City as a replica of a 1939 pro-Nazi event, echoing a comparison also made by the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“I thought I was in a time warp,” Pingree, a Democrat, said Monday, referring to a rally decades prior at the same location, Madison Square Garden, held by the German American Bund, an American Nazi party, that had attracted 20,000 supporters.

Pingree made the comments at a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and other Democratic down ballot candidates in downtown Portland Monday evening. She told attendees she was “nauseously optimistic” and encouraged them to “panic responsibly” by continuing to door knock and phone bank in the remaining days before Nov. 5. 

Pingree criticized Trump for allowing hateful and racist comments at his rally on Sunday, such as those made by comic Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.” 

Speakers at six-hour Trump rally in NYC insult Puerto Ricans, mock Harris’ race

During his rally, Trump also stood by his earlier assertions that his political rivals are “the enemy from within,” whom he proposed to use the military against. “They’re smart and they’re vicious, and we have to defeat them,” Trump said on Sunday. “And when I say, ‘the enemy from within,’ the other side goes crazy. Becomes a sound — ‘oh, how can he say’ — no, they’ve done very bad things to this country. They are indeed the enemy from within.”

Pingree emphasized who Trump considers the enemy during her remarks in Portland. 

“By the way, the enemy from within? That’s us, you guys,” Pingree said to the crowd. “That’s all of us.” 

Pingree called Trump a wannabe dictator. Recently, Trump’s former Chief of Staff John Kelly said the former president fits the definition of a fascist and would govern like a dictator. Trump has also vowed to be a dictator “for day one.” 

As someone who had served in Congress during Trump’s former presidency, Pingree also criticized his appointment of leaders to agencies whose very mission those appointees opposed. 

“It used to be, before 2016, we would have an election between Republicans and Democrats and we would talk about our policy differences… That’s not true anymore,” Pingree said.

Pingree was joined by Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund CEO Nicole Clegg and Ben Waxman, co-owner of the textile manufacturer American Roots in Westbrook.

Waxman highlighted Harris’ support for unions, while criticizing Trump’s support of tax cuts for the rich. 

“Here is a woman who has spent her life fighting for working people, fighting for union people, fighting for nurses and doctors and cops and firefighters and steel workers and auto workers — and the people that make this country run,” Waxman said.  

Clegg underscored that reproductive rights are on the ballot this election, which has been a consistent focus of the Harris campaign in Maine. A counter protester interrupted Clegg’s remarks, calling a vote for Harris one for nuclear war, echoing a recent talking point of former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. 

“This isn’t a new experience for me,” Clegg said. “I work at Planned Parenthood and I have to walk through people who feel that they are entitled to harass our patients, to intimidate them as they’re walking into our health center to seek basic healthcare.”

While a main focus of the Portland rally was the presidential race, the speakers also called for support for Democrats up and down the ballot, including Pingree, who is facing two challengers for southern Maine’s U.S. House seat, Republican Ron Russell and independent Ethan Alcorn.