Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., attends a meeting of the House Armed Services Committee in Rayburn, Jan. 14, 2015. | AP Photo Rep. Seth Moulton compares Trump to Hitler

Congressman Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) sees similarities between the quick rise of Donald Trump today and Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

“When you’re in politics, one of the cardinal rules is you never say what I’m about to say,” the former Iraq veteran said in a taped conversation with the Boston Globe on Wednesday.


Then he said it: “People should read the history of how Germany elected Hitler."

“I’m not saying that Donald Trump is necessarily Hitler,” Moulton, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton, continued. “I’m not saying that. But you ought to understand how an unbelievably educated advanced society can elect a demagogue and how bad it can get as a result.”

Pressed to elaborate on his choice of historical analogies, Moulton declined to answer about the possibility that Trump would govern the United States like Hitler ruled Germany.

“I don’t know him,” Moulton said. “I don’t know if he would be [like Hitler], but he’s certainly talked about carpet bombing the Middle East."

“He obviously has absolutely no idea how to fight terrorism,” Moulton said, adding, “His ideas are not only radical, ridiculous and immoral, but they’re also really stupid."