Republican National Committee (RNC) spokeswoman Elizabeth Harrington on Wednesday compared some of the politicians vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination to Italy’s former fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini.
“You’re going to be faced with a choice in 2020, and the president is exactly right. He said there are no Winston Churchills. But you know, I do see quite a few Benito Mussolinis in the Democratic field,” Harrington said on Fox News’s “Outnumbered.”
The GOP spokeswoman later shared the clip on Twitter, repeating her remarks comparing some in the Democratic field to the former Italian leader who founded the Fascist Party in 1919.
Harrington argued later on in the Fox interview that Democrats were “pushing a radical agenda” and that the country should avoid turning left in 2020 so that it can “stick with the progress we’ve made.”
{mosads}”I would imagine you’ll get some pushback on any comparison to Mussolini, but I do understand the socialism aspect of that, so let’s just stay in the lane of the money,” Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner responded, prompting Harrington to list off what she sees as radical proposals some 2020 Democratic candidates are offering.
“Look at what they’re proposing,” Harrington said. “Socialized medicine, a complete takeover of health care. Eliminating private insurance, which over 180 million Americans have. This so-called Green New Deal. There’s nothing new about it. It’s the old, failed socialist policies of the 20th century. A complete takeover of what you drive, what you eat, how many kids you have.”
“It’s completely a radical agenda. When I look at the Democratic field and Sen. Elizabeth Warren [(D-Mass.)] is getting lauded for saying ‘I have a plan for that,'” she continued. “Those words are terrifying to millions of Americans.”
The 2020 Democratic presidential field includes numerous lawmakers who are pushing for progressive policies around health care and climate change.
Multiple candidates have voiced support for the Green New Deal, a resolution released earlier this year that calls for sweeping reforms to combat global warming.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is vying for the Democratic nomination, unveiled a Medicare for All bill in April that would largely eliminate private insurance and institute a single-payer system managed by the government. Multiple 2020 candidates, including Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), signed onto the bill.
The RNC did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from The Hill.