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Harris expected to exploit Kelly's critical comments about Trump at the CNN town hall

Harris expected to exploit Kelly's critical comments about Trump at the CNN town hall

Vice President Kamala Harris will answer questions from voters at a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening as she makes a final pitch to Americans in what is expected to be a razor-thin election – and in the process is expected to capitalize on comments from John Kelly, former chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, who said his old boss met the definition of a “fascist.”

“The Town Hall,” airing at 9 p.m. ET, gives Harris a chance to sway the final segment of the electorate that may have doubts about her ability to handle the task of the presidency. The town hall will be held in Chester Township, Pennsylvania – a key battleground state that both candidates want to win in their bid for the White House.

One topic she's sure to raise are Kelly's comments in an interview with The New York Times, in which the former Marine general said he believed the former president was a fascist and that Trump had told him multiple times that Adolf Hitler had “some good ones things done.”

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Vice President's Residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington on Oct. 23, 2024.

Bonnie Cash/Reuters

The revelations come at an opportune time for the vice president, who has already made claims about Trump's unfitness for office a central part of her election speech. Harris has revived his messaging about Trump's alleged threat to American democracy as part of this confrontation.

Harris called Trump “increasingly unhinged and unstable” in her first on-camera reaction to Kelly's comments Wednesday afternoon.

“It is deeply disturbing and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man responsible for the deaths of six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans,” she added. “All of this is further evidence to the American people of who Donald Trump really is.”

President Donald Trump speaks with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly after being sworn in privately during a ceremony in the Oval Office in Washington, July 31, 2017.

Evan Vucci/AP

The vice president warned of the possibility of an uncontrolled takeover if Trump wins another term in the White House.

“In a second term, people like John Kelly wouldn’t be there to fend off his tendencies and actions,” she said. “Those who once tried to stop him from acting on his worst impulses would no longer be there and would no longer be there to rein him in.”

Her campaign hosted a press briefing Wednesday with two Republican military veterans — one of whom served as Kelly's lead attorney when the former Marine general was Trump's homeland security secretary.

The men insulted Trump on the call, and one of them, Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson, mocked the former president for being unable to serve in the military today because of his legal problems.

Donald Trump dances on stage after speaking at a campaign rally at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 22, 2024.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

“(Trump) couldn't qualify for military service – he has 34 felony convictions – so how can we have the commander in chief leading a military he couldn't possibly join?” Anderson said.

Kevin Carroll, Kelly's former adviser, told reporters that his former boss had stepped out of his comfort zone and criticized Trump in the way he did.

“I had the honor of working alongside him and I know it was no small step for him to speak out like that,” Carroll said.

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