Wannabe Congressman Paladino Says Hitler Was the ‘Kind of Leader We Need’

As is often the case, Carl Paladino is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. The Republican congressional candidate, whose run to represent western New York has received nods from party chiefs like Rep. Elise Stefanik, was revealed on Thursday to have been an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler’s leadership qualities. In audio from a 2021 radio interview unearthed by watchdog group Media Matters, Paladino described Hitler as “the kind of leader we need today.” Waxing poetic about how good the fascist dictator was at whipping up a crowd by “screaming these epithets,” the 75-year-old developer continued: “We need somebody inspirational. We need somebody that is a doer, has been there and done it.” In a statement released after the audio’s publication, Paladino called the remarks “a serious mistake” and condemned the Nazis’ “murderous atrocities.” But, he added, any implication by the media that his comments signaled support for Hitler would be “a new low.” Paladino most recently landed in hot water earlier this week, when he reversed course and admitted to having shared conspiracy theories related to “false flag” operations in recent mass shootings on his Facebook page.