Harris expected to take advantage of Kelly's critical comments of Trump at town hall

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Harris will answer questions from voters Wednesday night at a CNN town hall.

October 23, 2024, 2:00 PM

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

The town hall, to air at 9 p.m. ET, gives Harris a chance to sway the last sliver of the electorate who may have questions about her ability to handle the job of the presidency. The town hall is taking place in Chester Township in Pennsylvania -- a key battleground state that both candidates are looking to win in their bid for the White House.

A topic she is sure to address are Kelly's comments in an interview with The New York Times where the former Marine general said he believed the former president was a fascist and that Trump had told him multiple times Adolf Hitler had "done some good things."

The revelations come at a convenient time for the vice president, who already makes allegations of Trump's unfitness for office a key part of her stump speech. Harris has been reviving messaging about Trump's supposed threat to American democracy as part of that argument.

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

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

The vice president warned of the potential for unchecked power if Trump were to win another term in the White House.

"In a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions," she said. "Those who once tried to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses would no longer be there and no longer be there to rein him in."

Her campaign on Wednesday held a press call with two Republican military veterans -- one of whom served as Kelly's senior counsel when the former Marine general was Trump's homeland security secretary.

The men lambasted Trump on the call, and one of them, Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson, mocked the former president for the fact he would not be able to serve in the military today due to his legal troubles.

"[Trump] couldn't qualify to be in the military -- he has 34 felony convictions -- so how can we have the commander-in-chief be in charge of a military that he couldn't possibly join?" Anderson said.

Kevin Carroll, Kelly's former advisor, told reporters his former boss stepped out of his comfort zone to criticize Trump the way he did.

"I had the honor of working aside him, and I know him speaking out this way was no small step for him," said Carroll.