Harris on Kelly's ‘fascist’ remarks: Trump ‘increasingly unhinged’
Vice President Harris on Wednesday responded to former White House chief of staff John Kelly’s recent remarks that former President Trump fits a ‘fascist’ definition, arguing he has become more unstable and wants unchecked power.
“It is clear from John Kelly’s words that Donald Trump is someone — who I quote — certainly falls in ‘the general definition of fascist.' Who has in fact vowed to be a dictator on day one and vowed to use the military as his personal militia to carry out his personal and political vendettas,” Harris said from her residence in Washington.
“Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions,” she continued. “The bottom line is this, we know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be, what do the American people want?”
Harris was referring to a new interview in The New York Times, during which Kelly said Trump “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.” And, she also referenced a recent interview in The Atlantic with the retired general, during which he said Trump said while in office that he wanted the military to be like “Hitler’s generals” in terms of loyalty.
“This is a window into who Donald Trump really is. From the people who know him best. From the people who work with him side by side in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room,” Harris said Wednesday.
She also warned that Trump wants a military “that is loyal to him” and not to the Constitution, adding that her GOP rival wants troops who “will obey his orders even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States.”
“It is deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans,” Harris said.
The Democratic presidential nominee also repeated Trump’s “enemy from within” remarks about his rivals, which has become a centerpiece of her campaign rallies after the former president suggested the military could be used to quell unrest.
“In just the past week, Donald Trump has repeatedly called his fellow Americans the enemy from within and even said that he would use the United States military to go after American citizens,” she said.
The vice president also noted that Trump considers those who refuse “to bend a knee or dares to criticism him would qualify” as the enemy from within, warning that he would consider judges, journalists, nonpartisan election officials in that category.
While Harris has avoided calling Trump a fascist directly, she has agreed with others, like Kelly, when they do.
Radio host Charlamagne tha God last week called Trump’s vision one of “fascism,” and Harris agreed that “we can say that.”
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