Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican presidential nomination, once again lauded deposed Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein during a campaign stop.
Speaking at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday evening, Trump praised what he said was Hussein's innate ability to kill terrorists "so good." While it's not the first time he's mentioned the former leader, this time Trump elaborated that he appreciated Hussein's authoritarian take on civil liberties.
"You know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good," Trump said. "They didn’t read them the rights, they didn’t talk. They were a terrorist, it was over."
Trump went on to call Iraq the "Harvard for terrorism," to scattered laughter.
Trump has never been one to shy away from a fist bump for authoritarian rulers. In January he said North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un should be given "credit" for taking over and killing his rivals.
Trump first heaped such praise on Hussein during a press conference in February. During both mentions, Trump began by labeling him "a bad guy" before using the ruler's actions to explain his own bold campaign claims to "fight fire with fire."
Shortly after Hussein's death, The New York Times called him a "defiant dictator who ruled Iraq with violence and fear," citing his oppression of the country for more than three decades. He was known for violent retribution against his own citizens he suspected of disloyalty, including the 1988 massacre of 5,000 people in a Kurdish village using poison gas.
The Huffington Post has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.
