Howard Stern said on Monday that the American people's freedoms would disappear if candidates who deny votes or the legitimacy of elections are put in office.
"I'm going to suggest to you that the things you enjoy about this country, the freedoms, they will all be gone when you elect someone who says, 'I don't believe the vote. F*** you. We're going and we're taking over.' That's how Hitler came to power," Stern said on his SiriusXM radio show on Monday, most likely taking aim at the voters who supported former President Donald Trump's claims that he won the 2020 presidential election.
"I never thought I'd be saying this on the radio. I never thought that this would be in jeopardy," Stern said. The former America's Got Talent judge's comments came a day before Midterm Election Day.
Stern continued to say that Tuesday's priority needed to be "saving Democracy."
"I love this country. I love what it stands for. I know the history of the world. I've seen what happens when people who are authoritarians—who want to control the vote, fix the vote, and then eventually eliminate the vote—I know what that means and I know the kind of society you'd be in," he said.
"I would love to tell the people out there who think that's not a big issue: The sad fact is you've never lived under an authoritarian regime," Stern added. "To me, there's no more important issue on the table for these elections than saving democracy."
In October, an analysis by Newsweek estimated that Republican candidates who denied, or at the very least, questioned the 2020 election results were favored to win 189 midterm elections this year, and a poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies last week found that 40 percent of Americans still believe that the 2020 presidential election, won by President Joe Biden, was rigged.
On Monday, Stern said that candidates who deny the 2020 election results are off the table.
"As soon as someone says, 'I believe that the... 2020 election was stolen,' as soon as they say that—and they have no proof except they feel like it was stolen — you can't vote for that person," Stern said.
"This is the Republican rap now. I used to believe in the Republican Party. I had many, many candidates that I enjoyed, who I knew personally, that I can't go along with this nonsense," he continued.
He added that he thinks Biden is "doing a good job," and acknowledged that the country still has "problems."
"We struggle as a nation all the time with certain issues, but lo and behold, the one thing we got is our freedom—to elect a**holes and kick a**holes out of office. That's the most important thing," he said.
"I like waking up in an America where I know that the United States senators, people in Congress and the president all believe in America—not in a dictatorship. And that's it," said Stern.
Newsweek reached out to a representative for Stern for additional comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Emma Mayer is a Newsweek Culture Writer based in Wyoming. Her focus is reporting on celebrities, books, movies, and music. ... Read more
