Carl Bernstein called Trump 'our own American war criminal' over COVID-19 deaths and encouraging the Capitol riot

• The Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein called Donald Trump "our own American war criminal."

• He cited "the tens of thousands of people who died because of his homicidal negligence."

• He also accused Trump of encouraging the Capitol riot.

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The Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein has accused former President Donald Trump of being "our own American war criminal" over his actions during the coronavirus pandemic and the January 6 Capitol riot.

Speaking with CNN's Brian Stelter, Bernstein said: "I think we need to calmly step back and maybe look at Trump in a different context: He is America's, our own American war criminal. Of a kind we've never experienced before."

Stelter interrupted Bernstein, saying: "You just said war criminal. What do you mean war criminal?"

Bernstein replied: "I did. In international law there have been quote 'crimes against humanity.' I think what we're talking about, Trump's crimes as an American war criminal in his own country, that he has perpetrated upon our people, including the tens of thousands of people who died because of his homicidal negligence in the pandemic, putting his own electoral interests above the health of our people as they were slaughtered in this pandemic."

Watch the interview here:

Bernstein also cited Trump's actions during the Capitol riot:

"Looking at his actions in terms of fomenting a coup to hold on to office, in which the hand of the American military, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has now compared Trump - not the press, not reporters comparing Trump - to Hitler, but rather the head of the American military comparing him and his movement to brownshirts, to the Reichstag fire."

A new book by two Washington Post journalists reported that Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had said Trump spread "the gospel of the Führer" via his lies about the 2020 election and compared the former president's supporters to "brownshirts in the streets."

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