John Cleese settled the controversy by comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler

British comedian and actor John Cleese sparked controversy after comparing Donald Trump to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

A message posted on X reads: Fish named Wanda, Fawlty Towers And Monty Python The actor wrote that Hitler was favored over Trump, who is seeking re-election to the White House, in five ways.

“1. He fought for his country. 2. He never used a teleprompter. 3. He was friendly with dogs. 4. He wrote his own books. 5. He never played golf. 6. He wasn’t a fat guy,” Cleese wrote.

He went on to list five reasons why Trump was preferable to Hitler, writing: “1. do not practice genocide 2. He has nicer hair,” and leave the other three fields blank.

The post, which has been viewed more than a million times, sparked hundreds of comments below, with many criticizing comedian Cleese for the comparison and others writing that it was clearly intended in jest.

Cleese later appeared to apologize for the message, sending another message saying it was “a very bad joke, especially on Boxing Day.”

However, he subsequently posted a series of messages supporting the joke, including one that read: “They both take a crazy step,” a reference to Monty Python’s famous comedy sketch.

This is not the first time Cleese has taken aim at Trump, who is leading the Republican nomination polls. After the former president tested positive for the coronavirus in 2020, Cleese wrote: “A doctor friend told me that symptoms of Covid-19 include megalomania, compulsive attention-seeking and extreme narcissism…”

Cleese also referred to Trump supporters as “the stupidest people” in an interview on ITV’s short-lived British chat series. The nightly show in 2017. He is a former resident of Santa Barbara.

Cleese recently started his own chat show, The Dinosaur Hour, on British broadcaster GB News. The show made headlines last month when it was revealed that a man once laughed so hard at his 1988 comedy heist film A fish named Wanda that they had a heart attack and died.

The actor tries to reboot the classic comedy Fawlty Towers along with Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment. In February he claimed the show would not return to the BBC because the British public broadcaster would not give him enough editorial freedom. Should the series become a reality, Basil Fawlty’s main character will be transported from his hotel in Torquay to the Caribbean.