Kamala Harris denounces Trump as a 'fascist' who wants 'unchecked power' | US elections 2024

Kamala Harris has denounced Donald Trump as a “fascist” who seeks “unchecked power” and a military loyal to him personally, after allegations emerged about the former president's repeatedly expressed admiration for Hitler.

On Wednesday, the vice president delivered a surprise speech at her residence in Washington, DC, following reports that John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, recalled Trump complaining that there were no generals to do the same to him Sages swore loyalty as military commanders serving Hitler in Nazi Germany.

“Donald Trump has become increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term people like John Kelly would not be there to counter his tendencies and actions. Those who once tried to stop him from acting on his worst impulses would no longer be there and would no longer be there to rein him in,” Harris said.

Harris said Kelly's comments showed Trump “does not want a military that is loyal to the Constitution of the United States.”

“He wants a military that will remain loyal to him personally and that will obey his orders even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States,” she said.

She called the question a difficult decision for US voters who will go to the presidential election on November 5, adding: “We know what Donald Trump wants.” He wants uncontrolled power. The question in 13 days will be what the American people want.”

Harris' address came after she spent more than a week highlighting Trump's previous branding of his political opponents as an “enemy within” and his call for the military to deploy those who cause election chaos.

In confidential, recorded conversations with The New York Times, Kelly – who served as White House chief of staff for 18 months during Trump's presidency – said his former boss repeatedly praised Hitler even when contradicted and met the dictionary definition of a fascist.

“He said more than once, 'You know, Hitler did some good things too,'” said Kelly, who also said Trump would rule as a dictator if re-elected.

Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, made similar comments in an interview with the Atlantic.

Referring to the various reports, Harris said: “It is deeply disturbing and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man responsible for the deaths of six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans.” This is insight “Who Donald Trump really is, from the people who know him best.”

She added: “It's clear from John Kelly's words that Donald Trump is someone who, as I quote, certainly falls within the general definition of fascist, who actually swore on day one that he was a dictator and swore, “to use the military as dictator.” his personal militia to carry out his personal and political vendettas.”

It was the second time in a week that Harris actually called the Republican candidate a fascist. Last week, she answered in the affirmative when a radio interviewer in Detroit asked whether Trump's vision amounted to fascism — although she didn't directly say the word.

Trump's spokesman has dismissed Kelly's claims that Trump said this, calling it “absolutely false.”

Harris' comments on Wednesday were the clearest sign yet that she had changed tactics from an earlier approach she initially took after becoming her party's nominee, when she and her surrogates sought to downplay and belittle Trump. In one example, by poking fun at his obsession with crowd size at his rallies.

Theories abound about what Harris might do to sway voters away from Trump's appeal, which centers on promises to lower prices that have risen during Joe Biden's presidency and kick immigrants out of the country.

In an interview today on CNN, noted Republican pollster Frank Luntz said that exactly the kind of message Harris was putting out this afternoon didn't work.

“The interesting thing is that [when] Harris focused on why she should be elected president, and that’s when the numbers grew,” Luntz said.

“And then the moment she turned against Trump, focused on him and said, 'Don't vote for me, vote against him,' everything froze.”

Kelly's characterization of Trump as a fascist echoes that of retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley, who Trump has said should be executed, is quoted by journalist Bob Woodward in a recently published book as calling Trump “a total fascist” and “fascist to the core.”