Mikhail Baryshnikov ripped the Republican nominee as reminiscent of "dangerous totalitarian opportunists." | Getty Mikhail Baryshnikov: Trump's rhetoric 'reminds me of the Soviet Union'

Mikhail Baryshnikov sees flashes of the Soviet Union's hammer and sickle in Donald Trump's rhetoric.

The legendary Russian-American dancer, choreographer and actor warned of the danger posed by Trump in a new video released Wednesday in which he endorsed Hillary Clinton and ripped into the Republican nominee as reminiscent of "dangerous totalitarian opportunists" who have driven people like him out of their countries.


"Forty two years ago I left a country that built walls to come to a place without them. But today, as a citizen of the United States, for the first time, I’m hearing rhetoric that reminds me of the Soviet Union of my youth, where it was a crime, and continues to be, a crime to be different," said Baryshnikov, who had never publicly endorsed a candidate, in 75-second video released by the social media campaign Humanity for Hillary titled "#ITrustHer."

Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union in 1974 while touring Canada with the Kirov Ballet before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen 12 years later. "The America I love welcomes people of all nations, all religions, and supports all forms of human expression. America welcomed me, an immigrant, and that welcome has made my life possible," Baryshnikov said.

Clinton "believes in that America" and "has fought for that America for 50 years," Baryshnikov continued. "I trust her to lead us in the right direction, to protect the rights of all citizens, and to provide sane, steady leadership in a complex world."

"I trust her with our future. Take it from one who knows. Hundreds of thousands of people like me have fled from countries led by dangerous totalitarian opportunists like Donald Trump," Baryshnikov said. "Don’t let that happen to our beautiful United States of America."

Baryshnikov explained his decision to participate in the campaign after hearing Trump's "flirtations with the Kremlin."

"I have never publicly endorsed a political candidate before, or inserted myself into politics in any way other than by voting, but this video is a direct call to action: We must elect Hillary Clinton as president in November," he said in a press release announcing the video.

The latest video was directed by Humanity for Hillary co-founder and executive director Laura Dawn, who called specific attention to Russia under Putin where, she said in a statement, "artists, activists, journalists, and LGBTQ people have been beaten, arrested, and killed."

"Yet Donald Trump speaks glowingly of Putin and, as we just learned, Trump’s campaign chair Paul Manafort has troubling pro-Russian ties," Dawn said, referring to Manafort's lobbying work for the political party of Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. The New York Times reported earlier this week on ledgers in Ukraine showing $12.7 million in cash earmarked for him from Yanukovych's administration between 2007 and 2012. Manafort hit back at the report, calling the notion that he "accepted cash payments ... unfounded, silly and nonsensical."

Trump himself has sought to tie Clinton to Russian President Vladimir Putin and has further sought to allay concerns that his immigration policies would have a negative effect on national security while painting Clinton as a hypocrite on LGBTQ rights for accepting donations from countries that criminally prosecute such people.

"This is my pledge to the American people: as your President I will be your greatest champion. I will fight to ensure that every American is treated equally, protected equally, and honored equally.We will reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all its forms, and seek a new future built on our common culture and values as one American people," Trump said in a Facebook post Tuesday, echoing the same prepared remarks from his counterterrorism speech earlier in the week.

In another passage from his speech posted to his Facebook page later Tuesday evening, Trump drew a more explicit parallel to the Cold War in making the case against radical Islamic terrorism.

"Just as we won the Cold War, in part, by exposing the evils of communism and the virtues of free markets, so too must we take on the ideology of Radical Islam," Trump wrote in the post. "While my opponent accepted millions of dollars in Foundation donations from countries where being gay is an offense punishable by prison or death, my Administration will speak out against the oppression of women, gays and people of different beliefs."