In her strongest warning to date about Donald Trump’s autocratic tendencies, Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday quoted his own top military adviser’s assessment of him as “fascist to the core” in a speech inviting Republicans to join her presidential campaign.
“His national security adviser, two defence secretaries, his former chief of staff, his own vice president, all have warned America: Donald Trump is unfit to serve,” Harris said. “Or listen to General Milley, Donald Trump’s top general. He has called Trump, and I quote, ‘fascist to the core,’ and said, quote, ‘no one has ever been as dangerous to this country.’”
Mark Milley, who in 2018 was chosen by the then-president and the current Republican nominee as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, made the remarks to Bob Woodward, who included them in his forthcoming book, War.
Harris was joined on stage by former Republican members of Congress — including Jim Greenwood of Pennsylvania, David Trott of Illinois and Barbara Comstock of Virginia. And she cited the support of former aides to Republican presidents and nominees stretching from Ronald Reagan to both George Bushes to John McCain and even Trump himself.
Harris delivered the speech in Washington’s Crossing, a village in one of the suburban “collar” counties of Philadelphia where college-educated Republicans who cannot abide Trump could provide Harris a winning margin in a crucial swing state.
It was the second time in as many days that Harris cited or agreed with the notion that Trump’s actions and views amounted to fascism, the autocratic style of rule associated with murderous 20th century dictators like Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco and Adolf Hitler.
On Monday, radio host Charlamagne tha God described what he saw as the alternative Americans faced if they rejected Harris. “The other is about fascism,” he said. “Why can’t we just say it?”
She responded: “Yes, we can say that.”
Harris’ explicit overtures to Republicans reflect her campaign’s view that there are sizeable numbers of mainline Republican voters who have been repulsed by Trump over the last nine years, and particularly following his January 6, 2021, coup attempt.
As more than a dozen former Republican elected officials and White House aides stood on stage, a local couple introduced Harris, saying that although they had previously supported Trump, she’d won their vote this year.
“January 6 was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me,” said Bob Lange, who said his wife, Kristina, was “ahead of the curve” because she only voted for Trump once, rather than twice like he did.
Harris spoke in detail about Trump’s actions leading up to and on Jan. 6, including an element that has received little attention: what would have happened if Trump had had a more pliant vice president and his coup had succeeded.
“He sent a mob, an armed mob, to the United States Capitol, where they violently assaulted police officers, law enforcement officials, and threatened the life of his own vice president, and he refused to engage in the peaceful transfer of power,” Harris said. “Were it not for the courage and patriotism of Vice President [Mike] Pence that day, Donald Trump might have actually succeeded in overturning the will of the American people.”
She then tied Trump’s actions in the final days of his term to his new claim that Americans who oppose him constitute an “enemy from within” and his threat to deploy the US military against them.
“Let that sink in — use of the American military to go after American citizens? And we know who he would target first, because he has targeted them and attacked them before: Journalists whose stories he doesn’t like. Nonpartisan election officials, who refuse to cheat by finding extra votes for him. Judges who insist on following the law instead of following him,” she said. “It is clear Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged. And he is seeking unchecked power.”
Harris again promised to include a Republican in her cabinet and govern in a more “practical” and bipartisan manner. She closed by quoting Ronald Reagan — the man who, before Trump’s election, had been revered as the most influential leader of the modern Republican Party — and Reagan’s own quote of Puritan leader John Winthrop.
“Imperfect though we may be, America is still that shining city upon a hill that inspires people around the world, and I do believe it is my highest forms of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country,” Harris said.