Rep. Jasmine Crockett isn’t backing off. The Texas Democrat doubled down on comparing President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler during a tense exchange on CNN’s State of the Union, calling her language “accurate” and insisting the president is following a familiar “playbook.”
Host Dana Bash rolled a montage of Crockett’s past remarks, including calling Trump a “wannabe Hitler,” then pressed her on whether an elected official should cool the temperature, especially after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a Utah campus event this month. Crockett didn’t flinch, saying her duty is “to be transparent and honest,” and arguing that what the public is seeing amounts to consolidation of power and an effort to chill speech, behavior she labeled straight from Hitler’s tactics.
Jasmine Crockett: “When we see the consolidation of power. When we see them trying to chill speech of jokesters. That is a playbook out of Hitler and I won’t deny it. These are the facts.” pic.twitter.com/yoiOz9iZ3o
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) September 22, 2025
Pressed again, Crockett leaned in further, citing the administration’s posture on media criticism and the uproar around late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from ABC. She framed those moves as part of a broader assault on free expression, pairing them with Trump’s long-running complaints that negative press should be considered “illegal.” Her argument, in short, is that the country is watching a creeping authoritarian script unfold in real time.
The CNN segment came amid raw national emotions following Kirk’s killing, which authorities have described as a political assassination. The 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder was gunned down on September 10 at Utah Valley University, and memorials since then have drawn massive crowds, including a packed event at State Farm Stadium near Phoenix that topped 60,000 mourners. Those shock waves formed the backdrop to Bash’s question about political rhetoric and responsibility, even as supporters on the right cast Kirk as a martyr and vowed his movement would grow.
Jasmine Crockett: “The rhetoric that Charlie Kirk continuously put out there was rhetoric that specifically targeted people of color … I was gonna honor somebody who decided that they were gonna negatively talk about me and proclaim that I was somehow involved in the ‘great… pic.twitter.com/adDLtNKSoR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 21, 2025
Crockett’s remarks also followed a week of controversy over her separate characterization of ICE, which she likened to “slave patrols” during a recent TV hit, sparking criticism from conservatives and another round of cable-news blowups. Supporters say she is forcing a conversation about civil liberties and historical context, while detractors accuse her of incendiary grandstanding. Either way, her comments kept her squarely in the center of the media storm.
What makes the latest dust-up different is how explicitly Crockett tied the rhetoric to specific acts. She pointed to the January 6 attack and Trump’s continued attacks on institutions as evidence of authoritarian instinct, then linked recent flare-ups around broadcast licensing and late-night speech to a pattern of punishing critics. CNN’s framing underscored the clash, the First Amendment protects positive and negative coverage alike, which makes any suggestion that “too negative” reporting is illegal a nonstarter in court and a five-alarm fire for journalists.
Whether Crockett’s “accurate language” becomes a campaign staple or a one-week story will depend on what happens next. If the administration and its allies continue to pressure media figures and celebrate punitive outcomes, expect her to keep throwing the H-word on air and online, where clips ricochet into partisan feeds within minutes. If the White House shifts tone, the comparison could lose steam. For now, Crockett seems comfortable paying the political price to make the moral point, and the CNN clash gave her a primetime runway to do it. And in an election season where every word can become a flashpoint, “accurate,” as she put it, is the hill she appears ready to defend.
