Harris joins ex-White House chief of staff in calling Trump a fascist during CNN town hall

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday that she believes former President Donald Trump is a fascist and his ex-chief of staff is "putting out a 9-1-1 call" to the American people to consider the implications of his potential return to the White House.

Appearing at a CNN town hall in Delaware County in Pennsylvania, Harris invoked former White House chief of staff John Kelly's claim that Trump made positive comments about Hitler and agreed with his assessment that Trump is a "fascist."

"Yes, I do," she said. "And I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted."

Harris was responding to a question from Anderson Cooper, who asked her how she plans to convince millions of Americans who plan to vote in the election that Trump made the remarks.

Trump's campaign has denied Kelly's account, and the former president assailed him on social media.

"I don't necessarily think that everyone has heard what you and I have heard repeatedly, which is, the people who know Donald Trump best, the people who worked with him in the White House, in the Situation Room, in the Oval Office, —all Republicans, by the way — who served in his administration, his former chief of staff, his national security adviser, former secretaries of defense, and his vice president, have all called him unfit and dangerous," she said.

Earlier in the day, before she left Washington, Harris seized on another remark from Kelly to argue that Trump "wants unchecked power" and a military that is loyal to him over the Constitution.

Harris aims for stark contrast with Trump

Harris repeatedly steered the conversation back to Trump, his fitness for office and remarks he's made that she said are disqualifying. She faced tough questions from voters at the town hall about her economic plans and how she'd govern differently from President Joe Biden.

Harris said she believes Americans are "exhausted" with the finger-pointing and that they deserve better.

"And they deserve a president who is focused on solutions, not sitting in the Oval Office plotting their revenge and retribution," she said.

CNN said voters participating in the town hall are undecided and the questions were written on their own.

It was one of only a handful of times since Harris launched her campaign that she has come face-to-face with voters who have not made up their minds. She's been appearing at rallies and retail stops for months that are primarily filled with her supporters.

As he has at Harris' recent events, the former Republican president loomed large.

One voter asked Harris whether it is Trump's or Biden's fault that grocery prices have increased over the past few years and what she'd do to bring them down.

After a lengthy answer in which she referenced her plan to combat plan gouging, Harris told Cooper, "By the way, again, Donald Trump should be here tonight to talk with you and answer your questions. He's not. He refused to come."

Trump declined an invitation from the network to debate Harris for a second a time. He also declined CNN's invitation to participate in a town hall of his own, the network said.

Trump appeared at events in Duluth and Zebulon in Georgia on Wednesday instead.

Harris pressed on differences with Biden

While the vice president kept her focus on Trump, it was the sitting president with whom another voter, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, wanted to see Harris draw a sharper contrast.

"My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration," Harris asserted. "I bring to this role my own ideas and my own experience."

A former prosecutor, Harris, 60, said she would have new approaches from Biden, 81, and brings a different set of experiences to the job. She used housing as an example.

"I brought billions of dollars to homeowners that were the subject of predatory lending. I know what homeownership means to the American people," Harris, the former California attorney general, said. "Not to mention what it meant to my mother, who worked very hard and saved up so that by the time I was a teenager she was able to buy our first home."

Civilian death toll in Gaza raised at town hall

The war between Israel and Hamas and the high civilian death toll in Gaza was another area in which Harris was pushed by a voter to lay out a position that was different from the president's.

Asked how she would ensure that "not another Palestinian dies due to bombs being funded by U.S. tax dollars," Harris said the deaths are "unconscionable" and reasserted the Biden administration's position that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's death has provided an opening to the end the war.

Pressed by Cooper on what her message is to viewers who could vote third party — or not at all — in the election over their views on the war, Harris said she would not "deny the strong feelings that people have" about what has happened since Hamas attacked Israel last October, especially those who have relatives who were killed.

"I appreciate that," she said. "But I also do know that for many people who care about this issue, they also care about bringing down the price of groceries. They also care about our democracy and not having a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist."

Harris talks faith, weaknesses, mistakes

Cooper asked Harris during the town hall about her faith. She recalled that on the day Biden dropped out, she contacted her pastor, the Reverend Dr. Amos C. Brown of Third Baptist Church, for spiritual advice and a prayer.

Harris said she prays every day and sometimes twice a day. "I was raised to believe in a loving God, to believe that your faith is a verb," she said.

The vice president acknowledged having made "many mistakes" in her life, bringing up her role as a parent in response to a different question from Cooper.

But when it comes to her job, she said, "I've probably worked very hard at making sure that I am well-versed on issues and I think that is very important. It's a mistake not to be well-versed on an issue and feel compelled to answer a question."

She also sidestepped a voter's question on her weaknesses.

"I am certainly not perfect," she said. "Perhaps a weakness, some would say, but I actually think it's a strength, is I really do value having a team of very smart people around me who bring to my decision-making process different perspectives."

Philadelphia comes into focus

The town hall took place in Delaware County, a suburb of Philadelphia where Harris needs a strong turnout. It is one of five counties in the Philadelphia area that when taken together accounted for more than 40% of President Joe Biden's votes in Pennsylvania four years ago.

Harris has ramped up her appearances in Philadelphia in the home stretch of the presidential race after spending the better part of September campaigning in other areas of the state.

She was in nearby Chester County on Monday, where she participated in a moderated conversation with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney. She'll be in Philadelphia again on Sunday.

Upon her arrival in Philadelphia on Wednesday ahead of the town hall event, the vice president stopped by Famous 4th Street Deli. The city's mayor, Cherelle Parker, joined her at the event, which was exclusively for her volunteers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris joins ex-White House chief of staff in calling Trump a fascist