Kamala Harris rebuked Donald Trump on Wednesday over newly reported comments from his former chief of staff, John Kelly, suggesting that the former president wants a military like Adolf Hitler’s.
“It is 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,” the vice president said.
Her comments follow reports from The Atlantic and The New York Times featuring Kelly calling Trump a “fascist” and recalling his admiration for Nazi generals. Kelly also raised concerns about Trump’s recent threats to use the military against “the enemy from within.”
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On the campaign trail, the Democratic nominee has been ramping up attacks framing Trump as a threat to democracy. She used some of that same language on Wednesday, warning that, in a second term, Trump would only have yes-men by his side.
“Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guard rails against his propensities,” she said.
As she has in the battleground states, she said that Trump would consider anyone who criticized him, including judges, journalists, and nonpartisan election officials, part of the “enemy within” that he would hope to target.
“We know what Donald Trump wants,” she said. “He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be, what do the American people want?”
