Had the Stalinists won, the number of murders might have been in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. The Reds were also burning churches, and mass murdering priest and nuns (as the Bolsheviks did wherever they came to power.)
Franco was the better alternative. I believe Pat Buchanan also said as much.
The day might come when the Left becomes so strong in this country that only a rightist "thug" will be able to defeat the Left. Sometimes reality doesn't present you with an ideal alternative.
The Left has been loudly proclaiming that Trump is that thug - they are going to be in for an ugly surprise if Trump's populism proves insufficient to rein them in.