Harris calls ex-aide's fascism warning a 'window into who Donald Trump really is'
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris accused former President Donald Trump of wanting "unchecked power" as the Democratic nominee seized on remarks from John Kelly, Trump's former White House chief of staff, warning about Trump's "fascist" tendencies and his past admiring statements about Adolf Hitler.
"This is a window into who Donald Trump really is from the people who know him best, from the people who worked with him, side by side, in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room," Harris said in remarks Wednesday from the vice president's Naval Observatory residence in Washington.
"The bottom line is this: We know what Donald Trump wants," Harris continued. "He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be: What do the American people want?"
Over three recorded interviews with the New York Times, Kelly said Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, met the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator if allowed, and had no understanding of the Constitution or the concept of rule of law.
"Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that," Kelly told the Times in a story published Tuesday. "So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
Kelly said Trump on multiple occasions remarked, "'Hitler did some good things, too.’”
Harris, in a brief address added to her schedule Wednesday afternoon, accused Trump of being "increasingly unhinged and unstable." It's a phrase she has turned to repeatedly in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign before the Nov. 5 election to warn of a second Trump presidency.
"It is clear from John Kelly's words that Donald Trump is someone who, I quote, 'certainly falls into the general definition of fascists,' who 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.
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Harris called it "deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans."
Kelly is just one of many former Trump White House officials who have criticized him publicly, expressed concerns about his character and fitness for the presidency and argued that he is antidemocratic. Other examples include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of Defense Mike Esper, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Miley, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former Attorney General Bill Barr.
Harris also referenced a separate report from the Atlantic, which quoted Trump saying that, "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had," according to two unnamed individuals.
"Donald Trump said that because he does not want a military that is loyal to the United States Constitution, he wants a military that is loyal to him." Harris said.
The Trump campaign has denied Kelly's accounts and the Atlantic story.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, slammed Kelly’s accounts as “debunked stories” and said he had “beclowned” himself in a statement to the Times.
Harris warned that in a second Trump presidency "people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions."
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris says Trump wants 'unchecked power' after John Kelly's warning