Spike Lee likens Trump to Hitler, says former president and 'all his boys ... are going down on the wrong side of history'

Controversial filmmaker Spike Lee likened former President Donald Trump to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler while accepting an award Sunday from the New York Film Critics Circle for his short film, "New York, New York," People said.

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Lee started his pre-recorded speech — taped Jan. 6, the day of the U.S. Capitol riots — by acknowledging that it was "a very sad day in the history of America."

"The whole world is laughing at the United States of America, the so-called cradle of democracy," Lee continued, soon adding that "we are living in a very serious time in America. All of us as true Americans gotta really think about what's important ... There's no way possible I could go before the iPhone and thank you guys without ... telling you what's in my heart and my soul as a descendant of slaves who helped build this country."

He then noted that "we're at the crossroads now" and pleaded with people to "please be safe, this is not a game. These people got guns with ammunition ... people are gonna get killed behind the bulls**t."

Lee then lit into Trump, who was still in office Jan. 6: "This president, President Agent Orange, will go down in history with the likes of Hitler ... These guys, all his boys ... they're going down on the wrong side of history."

"Thank you for the award," he noted at the end of his speech. "Peace and love."

Spike Lee Compares Trump to Hitler at the New York Film Critics Circle Awardsyoutu.be

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It wasn't the first time Lee ridiculed Trump. Lee included a black Trump supporter in his movie "Da 5 Bloods" to add "tension" to the movie, explaining last year that "there are some negroes that have drunk or will drink the orange Kool-Aid that's coming in November, but it's a very, very small percentage."

And after winning Best Adapted Screenplay for his movie "BlacKkKlansman" at the 2019 Academy Awards, Lee told the audience — reading from notes and never mentioning Trump's name — that "the 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let's all mobilize. Let's all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let's do the right thing."

Trump responded to Lee on Twitter, calling the director's subtle salvo against him "racist" and insisting he's done more for black people than nearly any other president: "Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all ..."