White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt helped lead the charge, though she did so in a surprising way on Monday: The president’s chief spokesperson didn’t just complain about Trump critics in a general sense; she helpfully referred to specific words and phrases that she characterized as beyond the pale.

Leavitt: "Those who constantly, falsely label & slander the president as a fascist & threat to democracy and compare to Hitler to score political points are fueling this kind of violence. The left-wing cult of hatred against POTUS and all of those who support him has gotten multiple people killed."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-04-27T17:12:33.761Z

.....But I was especially interested in the press secretary’s three specific examples.

Those who label Trump a “fascist”: Putting aside the debate over whether the Republican has earned the label, it’s worth reminding the public from time to time that Trump himself has routinely described his political opponents as fascists. In fact, around this time two years ago, during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump described the Biden administration as a “fascist government.”

After Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign, Trump proceeded to call then-Vice President Kamala Harris a “fascist” several times....

Those who describe Trump as “a threat to democracy”: Again, putting aside the question of whether the president is in fact a genuine threat to democracy, it was curious to hear Leavitt raise this specific point, given the frequency with which he’s lashed out at perceived foes as “a threat to democracy.”

Those who compare Trump to Adolf Hitler: I’m not aware of any leading Democratic officials who have compared the president to Hitler, and Leavitt didn’t point to any examples. But for the record, the most prominent political voices that have made the comparison are JD Vance, Trump’s vice president, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s health and human services secretary. .....

As recently as last fall, Trump labeled Democrats the party of “hate, evil and Satan,” and a month later, after a group of Democratic veterans urged service members to reject illegal orders, the president falsely accused them of engaging in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

If the White House wants to defend Trump’s incendiary record, it’s welcome to try. If the White House wants to express contrition for his inflammatory nonsense, I suspect his targets would welcome an apology.

But if Leavitt and other Republicans are seriously prepared to make the case that the president’s critics should stop echoing Trump’s own language, they’re going to be disappointed by the outcome.