Online liberal commentator Cenk Uygur claimed White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is partially responsible for the violence at the Southern border and said “fascism began” under his watch.

Uygur’s network, The Young Turks, has been known to espouse “progressive” political views and has taken a hard line against President Donald Trump since he announced he was running for the GOP nomination, back in 2015.

“If a retired general does not understand the gravity of using military troops inside the country or understands it and signs off on it anyway, what happened on your watch?” Uygur asked on his YouTube program. “John Kelly, the reality is, fascism began under your watch.”

“Maybe the most important part of the story … is how fascism creeps in. [Trump] gives an unconstitutional order they resist in the beginning, but then they make justifications,” he said of Kelly and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen earlier in the interview. (RELATED: Flashback: Obama Administration’s Border Patrol Shot Pepper Balls At Migrants In 2013)

“You guys aren’t going to do a check on Donald Trump,” he added. “You’re going to let him run roughshod and once this stuff settles in, if there is not an incredible — I don’t mean to public outcry. We’ve seen that a thousand different times. But consequences in the voting booth — then you’ve got to say we’ve got to get the monsters out. Otherwise fascism becomes accepted and we start shooting people like this at the border.”

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Uygur’s co-host Ana Kasparian called Kelly a “coward” and said he’s failed to defend America when it counts.

“I also want to make note of what an unbelievable coward John Kelly is,” she said. “This is a man who fought for our freedoms, fought for our Constitution. Right? Big military guy. Tough guy. And everyone had high hopes that he would serve as a check or a balance to Trump because he doesn’t believe in the Constitution.”

Kasparian claimed Kelly has not been a check on the president and has missed his opportunity to be a true leader.

“You could be fighting for your country right now when it matters the most and he’s not doing it,” she said.

Kasparian has never served in the military or any branch of the armed forces, while Kelly enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970 and was discharged as a sergeant in 1972. He was commissioned again in 1976 and returned to the 2nd Marine Division to serve as a rifle and weapons platoon commander, company executive officer, assistant operations officer, and infantry company commander. He was later promoted to the rank of Major in 1987 and eventually achieved the rank of rank of Brigadier General in 2002.

After being promoted to major general, he returned to Camp Pendleton as the Commanding General and commanded forces in Iraq. before serving as Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2012. He has also served as secretary of Homeland Security before taking his current position as White House chief of staff.

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