Donald Trump retweeted an infamous quote from Italian fascist Benito Mussolini Sunday morning and later defended his decision saying it was an “interesting” snippet.
“@ilduce2016: ‘It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep,’ – @realDonaldTrump #MakeAmericaGreatAgain,” the Republican frontrunner shared from a parody Twitter account at 6:13 a.m.
The account is devoted to Trump quotes and its profile picture is a mash-up of Mussolini’s face topped with the real-estate mogul’s signature coif. Il Duce is a reference to Mussolini’s nickname and translates to “The Leader.”
Trump’s retweet was favorited more than 3,800 times.
A few hours later, Trump doubled down on his backing of the quote in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“Mussolini is Mussolini,” he said. “But what difference does make whether it’s Mussolini or somebody else? It’s certainly a very interesting quote.”
When asked if he wanted to be linked with a fascist dictator, Trump said, “I want to be associated with interesting quotes.”
After the Mussolini reference Sunday, Trump attacked the Koch brothers for supporting Marco Rubio, who is currently polling in a distant second place ahead of Super Tuesday.
“While I hear the Koch brothers are in big financial trouble (oil), word is they have chosen little Marco Rubio, the lightweight from Florida,” Trump tweeted.
It’s not the first time Trump has shared controversial tweets with his nearly 6.5 million followers.
Last November, he retweeted a photo that showed his former rival, Jeb Bush, near a swastika.