John Brennan: ‘Nativist, Xenophobic’ Americans Are Suppressing Other Views

CIA Director John Brennan addresses a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New
AP Photo/Richard Drew

Appearing Friday on CNN, former CIA Director John Brennan said the United States is comprised of  “nativist, xenophobic” elements exhibited abroad in the last century.

A transcript is as follows: 

BRIANNA KEILAR: We’ve heard that phrase, “If you don’t know history, you could be condemned to repeat it,” which is part of the reason why it’s so important to understand different things whether it’s about the Cold War or World War II, and the fact that it was the fight again Fascism. Why is that so important for Americans writ large or for elected officials to understand that it was actually a fight against Fascism?

JOHN BRENNAN: I think we’re right now battling some fascist tendencies amongst some people in terms of highly nativist tendencies and instincts that I think Donald Trump harbors and has shown. What we have seen happen around the globe over the last hundred years or so, I think we see elements of it here in the states, which is a very nativist, xenophobic, and in some respects movements that are prone to lashing out and suppressing the views, the interests, of others in their country. It’s very unfortunate what we’ve seen in the last four years. I am very confident that Joe Biden brings to the office of the presidency the character, dignity, experience, and an understanding of the history, law and Constitution that Americans have been desperately looking for over the last several years.

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