Democratic strategist James Carville gave a warning that Americans and institutions cooperating with US President Donald Trump’s administration may face historical judgement similar to that of Nazi collaborators after World War II.
Speaking on his “Politicon” podcast on Friday, Carville said the country could soon begin to look at corporate leaders and law firms backing Trump in the same light as those who sided with Hitler’s forces.
“Maybe you need to go in history and see what happened in August of 1944, after Paris was liberated,” Carville said. “They didn’t take very kindly to the collaborators… It was not a very pretty sight in the streets of Paris,” he added.
Carville stopped short of calling for violence but highlighted how Nazi collaborators were publicly humiliated. “I’m not saying that these people should be placed in pajamas and have their heads shaved, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, and spit on… but I’m saying that that did happen,” he said.
His comments come amid growing criticism of law firms and corporations that have entered deals with the Trump administration. Under increasing pressure, several legal firms,including Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, and Milbank, have agreed to drop diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices in exchange for retaining government contracts. Milbank confirmed it had resolved issues with the administration to “foster a working relationship” and avoid confrontation, The Hill reported.
Trump recently signed an executive order banning employees of the law firm Perkins Coie from entering government buildings and terminating their federal contracts. Perkins Coie, a longtime legal foe of Trump, is challenging the order in court. Other firms have reportedly pledged tens of millions in legal services to causes endorsed by Trump to escape similar penalties, as per Fox News.
Carville called these concessions “a disgrace” and accused the firms of betraying American democratic principles. “These people are a disgrace to the law firms they represent, to the companies they represent… and they’re a disgrace to the United States,” he said on his podcast. He further claimed they would go down in history as “some of the greatest traitors, appeasers that we’ve seen.”
The veteran Democrat strategist also criticised Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for working with the Trump administration, branding him “a collaborator” and insisting that “he will never ever wash that stench off of him.”
Carville added that while he doesn’t advocate public shaming, there needs to be “an intellectual reckoning” for those enabling Trump. “When this is over, there has to be, at a minimum, an intellectual reckoning with this class of appeasers that are here,” he said.
