Appearing as a guest on Thursday's The Last Word on MS NOW, veteran actor Morgan Freeman compared America under Donald Trump to Nazi Germany.
As Freeman appeared to promote the series The Gray House about a group of Southern women who spied for the Union during the American Civil War, host Lawrence O'Donnell brought up the time Freeman read the final message of civil rights icon John Lewis for O'Donnell's show, leading the actor to remark, "The world today is not the world he left."
The MS NOW host then posed: "With all your life experience, and to say that the world he left is a different world from where we are now, how would you describe where we are now?"
After pausing, Freeman commented: "Can I use any profanity? ... Well, we have somebody sitting in the White House who's leading us down a s--t hole."
Performing a dramatic reading of history for Lawrence O'Donnell on MS (DNC), actor Morgan Freeman pretends today's America is a constant reminder of "Germany in 1935." Under Trump, "we have somebody sitting in the White House who's leading us down a s--t hole." pic.twitter.com/p4ELocp0fO
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) February 28, 2026
He invoked President Donald Trump's history of being prosecuted for felonies by Democrats, leading O'Donnell to follow up: "Were you, with your life experience, did it feel like we were going backwards? Did it feel like the country was on, as Martin Luther King would say, you know, the arc of history was turning toward progress all the time, and did this feel different?"
Freeman then jumped into his Nazi Germany comparison:
Very different, very different. I'm constantly reminded of Germany in 1935, what was happening there, the Brownshirts, those people that are marching through particularly Berlin, rounding up people and putting them in box cars and sending them off. Now, this administration wants to build large detention centers and -- for what? Question.
The MS NOW host then claimed that, from the point of view of young people, the world has never been worse in their lifetime, leading Freeman to agree:
O'DONNELL: What do you tell young people who are living through this, and this, they think, is the worst thing -- certainly the worst -- if you're 20 years old, 25 years old, this is the worst thing that you've seen, is the condition this country is in now.
FREEMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely the worst. I don't know what I would say to young people other than, "If you are at all aware of where we're headed -- where we are right now and where we're headed, and if you don't agree with it, then there is one sure way to change the direction of our country. Vote."
Transcript follows:
MS NOW's The Last Word
February 26, 2026
10:49 p.m. Eastern
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: But those words are as important today as they were when he wrote them. They really are eternal words that he wrote.
MORGAN FREEMAN, ACTOR: A little bit more.
O'DONNELL: Yeah.
FREEMAN: A little bit more important, I think.
O'DONNELL: Yeah.
FREEMAN: The world today is not the world he left. So it's it's an important message that he left. We should -- it should be posted somewhere so we can remind ourselves of it from time to time.
O'DONNELL: With all your life experience, and to say that the world he left is a different world from where we are now, how would you describe where we are now?
FREEMAN: Ummm. (pauses) Can I use any profanity?
O'DONNELL: You can say whatever you want.
FREEMAN: Well, we have somebody sitting in the White House who's leading us down a shit hole. I can't personally understand how a convicted felon -- convicted -- 34 felon -- felonious -- is that word -- counts of wrongdoing gets to be President. How do you do that? Well, you say, "Well, he was camp --" I don't care. That ruling went down before he stepped into the Oval Office, so it just doesn't make sense to me.
O'DONNELL: Were you, with your life experience, did it feel like we were going backwards? Did it feel like the county was on, as Martin Luther King would say, you know, the arc of history was turning toward progress all the time, and did this feel different?
FREEMAN: Very different, very different. I'm constantly reminded of Germany in 1935, what was happening there, the Brownshirts, those people that are marching through particularly Berlin, rounding up people and putting them in box cars and sending them off. Now, this administration wants to build large detention centers and -- for what? Question.
O'DONNELL: What do you tell young people who are living through this, and this, they think, is the worst thing -- certainly the worst -- if you're 20 years old, 25 years old, this is the worst thing that you've seen, is the condition this country is in now.
FREEMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely the worst. I don't know what I would say to young people other than, "If you are at all aware of where we're headed -- where we are right now and where we're headed, and if you don't agree with it, then there is one sure way to change the direction of our country. Vote."
O'DONNELL: The old message is the new message.
FREEMAN: Yes.
