Almost two weeks before the US presidential election, Kamala Harris is intensifying her verbal attacks on Donald Trump and leaving no doubt that she considers the ex-president to be a fascist. At a CNN town hall in the particularly politically contested state of Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential candidate described her Republican opponent as a danger to the country on Wednesday evening (local time). He responded with mockery.
The election campaign in the USA is in its final phase: elections will take place on November 5th. Polls predict a very close race. Harris and Trump are now primarily trying to convince undecided voters and are relying on maximum contrast and provocation. CNN invited registered voters to the town hall who said they were still unsure about who they wanted to vote for. According to the broadcaster, Trump declined an invitation to the town hall.
“Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?”
Trump is “increasingly unstable” and “unfit for office,” Harris said at the beginning of the town hall. Former employees of the ex-president and close confidants have expressly pointed out that Trump despises the Constitution of the United States and should never hold the office of President of the United States again, Harris said. Moderator Anderson Cooper asked the 60-year-old: “Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?” Harris answered without hesitation, “Yes, I do.”
The question was triggered by statements made by Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly. He told the New York Times that, in his view, Trump “falls under the general definition of a fascist.” He referred to the description of fascism as an extreme right-wing, authoritarian and ultranationalist ideology, in which, among other things, there is a dictatorial leader and a suppression of the opposition.
Trump: “Harris realizes she’s losing”
Harris said Kelly’s statements about Trump were “making an emergency call to the American people” about what could happen if he were to return to the White House. The people who could “hold Trump back” are no longer there. “I believe Donald Trump is a threat to the well-being and security of America,” Harris said.
Trump only laughed at it. “Harris realizes that she is losing, and losing by a lot (…),” wrote the 78-year-old on the online platform Truth Social. “That’s why she’s now increasingly toughening her rhetoric.” She goes so far as to call him Adolf Hitler. Harris is herself “a threat to democracy and unfit to be president of the United States,” Trump wrote.
Migration, fracking, abortion – Harris on the offensive
At the same time, Harris tried to score points with undecided voters by addressing the issues that many Americans have more confidence in Trump to address. “I will never allow America to have an insecure border,” Harris said. Trump and his supporters claim that uncontrolled immigration to the US has escalated under President Joe Biden and Harris as his vice president. Harris avoided the question of whether she wanted to build a wall on the border with Mexico like Trump: “I want to strengthen our border.”
Harris also assured that she would not ban the controversial natural gas extraction through fracking – contrary to Trump’s claims. Fracking is an important economic factor in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which could decide the race for the White House with its 19 electoral votes. You need 270 voters to win.
Harris signaled she might support changing voting rules in the U.S. Senate to enshrine abortion rights in law. “I think we need to look at the filibuster,” Harris said, referring to the requirement that a majority of 60 of 100 votes be needed in the Senate to end drawn-out debates. The narrow majorities have ensured for years that controversial decisions cannot be made between the two parties.
Harris: “I pray every day”
Harris also said during the town hall that she prays daily. “I pray every day, sometimes twice a day.” She was raised to believe in a loving God and lives her faith by thinking about how she can help others. This principle also guides their work.
Moderator Cooper asked Harris about a report that she first called a pastor after Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race. “I needed that spiritual kind of connection. I needed that advice. I needed prayer,” she said of speaking to Pastor Amos Brown of her San Francisco Baptist church.
Christians and conservatives are also an important group of voters. Many of them feel connected to the Republican Trump. After the question and answer session ended, Harris, with the microphones turned off, spoke longer with a woman whose husband had died a year ago. She then walked around the hall and chatted with other participants.
