Vice President Kamala Harris joined CNN in Pennsylvania for a town hall with undecided voters on Wednesday, where the Democratic presidential candidate doubled down on her rhetoric comparing former President Donald Trump to Nazi Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler.
“If the president of the United States, the commander in chief, says to his generals, in essence, ‘Why can’t you be more like Hitler’s generals?’ “Anderson, come on. This is a very, very serious topic. And we know who it is. “He admires dictators and sends love letters to Kim Jong-Un,” Harris said of Trump Wednesday night in a town hall moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Earlier Wednesday, former Trump administration chief of staff John Kelly claimed to the media that Trump praised “Hitler’s generals” for their loyalty. Harris posted on X that Trump is “seeking unchecked power” before also comparing Trump to the Nazi dictator.
“Donald Trump seeks unchecked power. He wants a military like Adolf Hitler had, loyal to him, not to our Constitution,” Harris posted on X early Wednesday. “He’s unhinged, he’s unstable, and if he were given a second term, there would be no one to stop him from following his worst impulses.”
HARRIS DOUBLES DOWN ON ‘FASCIST’ COMMENTS AT BEGINNING OF CNN TOWN HALL: ‘UNSTABLE’
ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN presidential town hall at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks until Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visiting the famous 4th Street delicatessen to greet her supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Cooper pressed Harris on the rhetoric in his first question to the Democratic nominee on Wednesday night, prompting Harris to double down and also say she believes Trump is a “fascist.”
“You quoted General Milley calling Donald Trump a fascist. You yourself have not used that word to describe him. Let me ask you tonight, do you believe Donald Trump is a fascist?” Cooper asked Harris toward the beginning of the town hall.
“Yes, I do. Yes, I do,” Harris responded.
Harris’ comments come after Trump survived two assassination attempts on his life since July. Trump has attributed the attacks to Democrats’ heated rhetoric.
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Harris spoke directly to undecided voters in the battleground state during Wednesday’s live town hall, telling one voter that if she wins on Nov. 5, her administration will be different than Biden’s.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 5: (L-R) Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama and US President Joe Biden arrive at an event to commemorate the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 in the East Room of the White House on April 5. 2022 in Washington, DC. With then-Vice President Joe Biden at his side, Obama signed ‘Obamacare’ into law on March 23, 2010. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Given that he has been in the vice president position for the last four years under the Biden administration, how can we expect him to deviate from the direction of that administration compared to his own? How can we differentiate his policy and his “Biden’s beliefs?” the audience member asked Harris.
Harris, who previously said on the campaign trail that she couldn’t think of anything she would have done differently than Biden, said Wednesday that her administration would be different from Biden’s leadership.
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“First and foremost, my administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration. I bring my own ideas and my own experience to this position. I represent a new generation of leadership on a number of issues and I believe we really need to take new approaches.” Harris said.
“For example, what we talk about in terms of housing. My experience that leads me to that priority includes what I did to confront the big banks around the foreclosure crisis. When I brought billions of dollars to homeowners who were targets of predatory attacks, loans, I know what homeownership means to the American people, not to mention what it meant to my mother, who worked very hard and saved, so that when I was a teenager, she was able buy our first house.
The fact that President Biden stepped aside and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris made Michael Moore extremely happy. (Tierney L. Cruz)
The town hall event began at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Chester Township, located less than 20 miles from Philadelphia. The event was held after CNN proposed holding a third presidential debate, including Biden’s first debate before dropping out of the race, on October 23. Harris accepted the invitation and Trump declined, leading to the town hall.
HARRIS STRIPES AT BORDER WHEN PRESSED ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: ‘IS A BORDER WALL STUPID?’
Harris also came under pressure on her border and immigration policies, including a bipartisan bill that would provide funding for a border wall that Harris previously criticized as a “stupid” idea when it was promoted by Trump during his administration.
“Let’s talk about this compromise bill that you want to pass if you’re elected. You said it will be a priority. It includes $650 million in funding for the border wall. That’s something Republicans wanted, that was part of the compromise. Donald Trump , you criticized the wall more than 50 times, calling it a “stupid, useless, medieval vanity project.” “Is a border wall stupid?” Cooper asked Harris.
“come on talk about Donald Trump and “That border wall,” Harris said while laughing. “So remember, Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for it. Come on, they didn’t. How much of that wall did he build? I think the last number I saw was about 2%. And then when it came time to make a photo shoot, you know, where did he do it? On the part of the wall that President Obama built.”
This aerial photograph taken on December 8, 2023 shows the border wall between the United States and Mexico in Sasabe, Arizona. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images))
“But you accepted a bill that would allocate $650 million to continue building that wall,” Cooper pressed.
“I promise that I will introduce that bipartisan bill to further strengthen and secure our border. Yes, I will, and I will work across both parties to pass a comprehensive bill that addresses a broken immigration system.” Harris responded.
“We need a president who is based on common sense and practical results, like, let’s just fix this. Let’s just fix it. Why is there any ideological perspective on this? Let’s just fix the problem,” he continued, adding that no-citizens need “earn” citizenship.
“So you don’t think I’m stupid anymore?” Cooper continued.
“I think what he did and how he did it didn’t make much sense because he didn’t really do much of anything. I just talked about that wall, right? We just talked about it. He didn’t really do anything, almost anything,” he responded. .
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Pennsylvania is once again a key state in these elections, and both Harris and Trump are competing to win the state and clear the path to an overall victory. Trump narrowly won the state in his successful 2016 election against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while Biden declared victory in the Keystone State in the 2020 election.
Harris leaned into her support for abortion during the town hall, claiming that red state abortion policies have led to the deaths of women. The Harris campaign and Democrats have previously claimed that at least two women in Georgia died due to “restrictive” abortion laws, and OB-GYNs subsequently criticized the narrative. like a misleading story driven by the media.
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“Trump’s abortion bans, some of which make no exceptions, not even in the case of rape or incest. One of the areas I specialized in as a prosecutor was crimes against women and children. The idea of telling a survivor of a violation of their body that they have “You have no right to make a decision about what happens next to your body. This is what is happening in our country. “You may all have heard the stories of women who have died because of these laws and suffering.”
ASTON, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 23: Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as CNN moderator Anderson Cooper looks on during a presidential town hall event at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. With less than two weeks until Election Day, Harris spent the day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visiting the famous 4th Street delicatessen to greet her supporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Harris called for an end to the filibuster last month in an effort to pass a law restoring abortion access nationwide, which was criticized by lawmakers and conservatives as an attack on democracy. The filibuster is a Senate rule that allows a minority to block legislation pending a supermajority vote, so ending it would make it easier to pass laws related to abortion rights.
Cooper pressed Harris on the issue Wednesday, asking: “You’ve talked about codifying Roe v Wade. That would require 60 votes in the Senate, a majority of the House. That’s a big leap. We don’t have that yet. If that It is not possible to encode it in the Camera, what do you do?”
Harris responded that it was time to review the filibuster.
“I think we need to look at the filibuster, to be honest. But the reality is this: Let’s talk about how we got here. When Donald Trump was president, he hand-picked three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention of undo the protections of Roe v Wade,” he said. “And they did what he intended. And now, in 20 states, we have abortion bans.”
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Harris’ appearance unfolded as the Wall Street Journal published a new poll that found Trump leading nationally, with 47% support to Harris’ 45%.
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