'Trump is saying Hitler-level things in public': Singer John Legend warns US not to be 'complacent'

Singer John Legend warned this week against normalizing the behavior of President-elect Donald Trump. Legend said that the former reality TV star has made statements with regards to black Americans, immigrants, Muslims and women that rise to the level of rank authoritarianism and call to mind Nazi Germany's fascist ruler Adolf Hitler.

Legend was taking part in a songwriters' round-table, according to TheHill.com, which also featured Sting, Tori Amos, Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake.

“Trump is saying Hitler-level things in public,” Legend said. "And I feel like it’s dangerous for us to be complacent."

"It’s dangerous for us to think that it couldn’t happen to us like it happened to Germany in the '30s and ‘40s," the Oscar-winning singer and composer went on. “The world and America have done some atrocious things in the past, and we could do it again if we had the wrong leadership and if people of conscience don’t speak up.”

The Hollywood Reporter quoted Legend as saying that artists and musicians have a special role in times of turmoil, "Part of the power of art and music is that we are able to transcend those boundaries."