Donald Trump says he is 'not a student of Hitler,' won't rule as a dictator

Former President Donald Trump defended anti-immigrant comments he made earlier this week that critics said echoed racist sentiments of Adolf Hitler -- saying Friday he knows nothing about the leader of Germany's Nazi Party and is "not a student of Hitler."

In a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt Friday, Trump was asked about comments he made at a recent rally in New Hampshire where he said illegal immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country."

"First of all, I know nothing about Hitler. I'm not a student of Hitler. I never read his works," Trump said to Hewitt. "They say that he said something about blood. He didn't say it the way I said it, either, by the way. It's a very different kind of a statement. What I'm saying when I talk about people coming into our country is they are destroying our country."

At a campaign stop in Iowa, he said he has not read "Mein Kampf," the manifesto written by Hitler that provided the philosophical basis for Nazi Germany and, ultimately, the murder of more than 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.

Trump reiterated that he hadn't read the manifesto during his conversation with Hewitt, saying that he "never knew that Hitler said it."

"I never knew that Hitler said it, either, by the way. And I never read 'Mein Kampf.' They said I read 'Mein Kampf.' These are people that are disinformation, horrible people that we're dealing with. I never read 'Mein Kampf,'" he said.

Hewitt then posed, "So you intend no racist sentiment whatsoever when you say 'poisoning our blood?'"

"Dear, no," Trump shot back.

Yet still, Trump continued to claim undocumented immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country."

"When you look at it, and you look at what's coming in, we have, from all over the world, not one group, they're coming in from Asia, from Africa, from South America..." he said.

"That's poisoning the blood of our country. And that's what's happening. And we're not talking about a specific group. We're talking about, these are, this is equal opportunity. They're coming from all over the world, and we have no idea who they are, where they are."

Trump claimed he had no idea where the origins of the phrase came from until he saw it on the news.

"I have no idea what Hitler said other than I've seen on the news. And that's a very entirely different thing than what I'm saying. They're pouring, they're destroying our country. They're coming in from every continent, and we have no idea, we have no idea who they are, what they represent," Trump said.

Trump says he won't rule as a dictator

Trump had previously repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders including Hungary's Viktor Orban, China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. Pointing to both Trump's commendation of such leaders and his comments that some compared to Hitler's, Hewitt asked Trump if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Trump said he would -- claiming he did so in 2020.

"Of course. And I did that this time," Trump said.

Trump faces 91 criminal charges, in federal court and in Fulton County, many of them due to his alleged attempts to overturn the election results of 2020 and his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that stemmed from it. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump recently said he wouldn't be a dictator as president "except for day one," so that he could focus on the border and on drilling. After receiving criticism from those remarks, the former president attempted to course-correct and claim he was only joking.

Hewitt asked Trump if he intends to rule as an authoritarian or dictator should he be elected president in 2024.

"Not at all." Trump said. "No, I'm going to rule as somebody that's very popular with the people."

Could Trump join in on GOP primary debates?

Trump, who hasn't participated in any of the four Republican presidential primary debates, said he would commit to participate in the primary debates if "it's very close," but quickly said he didn't think that would happen.

Trump has not joined the other candidates on the debate stages because he indicated he saw no point given his large polling lead.

Trump did say he was excited to debate against President Joe Biden in the general election.

"Oh, will I look forward to that. How about 10 debates? How about 10 … I'll do as many debates as they want. I'd do a debate every night with this guy. But he'll never show up to a debate," Trump said.

Trump's comments on ballot access in Colorado

Trump said he was in the process of appealing the Colorado Supreme Court decision earlier this week that declared he was ineligible for the White House and removed him from the state's presidential primary ballot.

"We're in the process of doing it," Trump said of the appeal. "Everybody thinks exactly what you're saying. They're trying to take the election away from the voters... this one is really a crazy one. And if they ever did that, it would be so bad for this country, you have no idea. And you understand it would be, it would be a big problem for the country."

It's still unclear if and when the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Trump's expected appeal.

Trump said he expects the Supreme Court to make a reversal with all nine justices voting to restore his access to the Colorado primary ballot.

"Well, I hope so, too," Trump said about a 9-0 reversal. "I think that's the kind of reversal. It should not be given any credit, not even the credit of one Supreme Court justice."