Saturday was a day that ended in Y, which meant it was time for MSNBC host Ali Velshi and philosophy professor, media hero, and professional crazy person Jason Stanley to compare Republicans to Nazis. This time, the GOP’s offense was calling far-left No Kings rally attendees Marxists.
Velshi set the table by claiming talk about Antifa is actually just a sinister plot to arrest people like him and Stanley, “So, let’s talk a little bit about what they’re saying these rallies are, or what protest against this government is. They’re calling them ‘hate America rallies.’ They’re calling them Antifa, which is an interesting concept, because if you have an undefined group like Antifa and you call everybody Antifa, then all of us can be arrested as Antifa.
The fact that Velshi is still on the air and Stanley was not detained on his return from Toronto should confirm those remarks as nothing but hysteria. Nevertheless, Velshi continued, “They’re calling them pro-Hamas. They’re calling them Marxist. Tell me about how this all works into this, this concept of bringing everybody into line.”
If you don’t want Republicans calling your rally “pro-Hamas,” then you shouldn’t invite pro-Hamas speakers. It is also interesting that throughout the segment, MSNBC played live footage of the New York City No Kings rally. Despite Velshi’s lamentations about protestors being called Marxists, reporting has shown that hard-left socialist groups would be showing up in New York and elsewhere to promote their agendas.
Nevertheless, Stanley, being the one-trick pony that he is, replied, “This is a classic move that historically, we can point to history, and then we can point, we should emphasize the fact that these people know that history. So, it is standard, like, the Nazis called the social democrats, the center—the center-left in Germany at the time. They called them Marxists, communists, enemies of the state.”
Stanley also claimed:
That is extremely typical. You call the opposition party Marxists and communists. You call anyone who’s against you, Marxists and communists, an existential threat to the state. We’re seeing that exact strategy now. People say, why always draw things back to Germany? Because I think someone is looking at German history here. And so that move of saying, ‘If you’re not 100 percent for us, if you’re not just repeating our line, you’re anti-American because what America is right now is Donald Trump. It’s Donald Trump and his agenda,’ according to this idea, according to this move the administration is making.
The irony of it all is that Stanley is alleging that calling people Marxists is beyond the pale while he relies on a far flimsier argument to accuse other people of being Nazis. Perhaps the philosophy professor should stop making a fool of himself on TV and go back to logic 101.
Here is a transcript for the October 18 show:
MSNBC Velshi
10/18/2025
11:13 AM ET
ALI VELSHI: So, let’s talk a little bit about what they’re saying these rallies are, or what protest against this government is. They’re calling them “hate America rallies.” They’re calling them Antifa, which is an interesting concept, because if you have an undefined group like Antifa and you call everybody Antifa, then all of us can be arrested as Antifa.
JASON STANLEY: Definitely.
VELSHI: They’re calling them pro-Hamas. They’re calling them Marxist. Tell me about how this all works into this, this concept of bringing everybody into line.
STANLEY: This is a classic move that historically, we can point to history, and then we can point, we should emphasize the fact that these people know that history. So, it is standard, like, the Nazis called the social democrats, the center—the center-left in Germany at the time. They called them Marxists, communists, enemies of the state.
VELSHI: Right.
STANLEY: So, that is extremely typical. You call the opposition party Marxists and communists. You call anyone who’s against you, Marxists and communists, an existential threat to the state. We’re seeing that exact strategy now. People say, why always draw things back to Germany? Because I think someone is looking at German history here.
VELSHI: Right.
STANLEY: And so that move of saying, “If you’re not 100 percent for us, if you’re not just repeating our line, you’re anti-American because what America is right now is Donald Trump. It’s Donald Trump and his agenda,” according to this idea, according to this move the administration is making.
