Harris when asked if she thinks Trump is a fascist: ‘Yes I do’

Vice President Harris on Wednesday agreed that she believes former President Trump is a "fascist" but again avoided using that word to label her political rival directly.

Anderson Cooper during a CNN town hall asked Harris, “Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist,” noting that she had not outright said that word to describe Trump.

“Yes I do. Yes I do,” Harris replied.

Harris was later asked about how pro-Israel a stance she has and what she would say to voters who are thinking about supporting a third-party candidate because of the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza. In her response, she also alluded to Trump being fascist without outright calling him one.

“For many people who care about this issue, they also care about bringing down the price of groceries, who also care about our democracy and not having a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist,” she said.

During the conversation about the Middle East, Cooper also asked Harris is she believes Trump is antisemitic. She would not agree, instead calling him “dangerous” and “a danger to the well-being and security of America.”

Harris continued to note in her answer that notable Republican officials, and ones who served in the Trump administration, have voiced open support for her candidacy.

Among those is vice president Dick Cheney and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) are supporting her candidacy, as well as over 400 officials from previous GOP administrations, suggesting those endorsements are out of fear over Trump returning to the White House.

“The reason why, among them, is a legitimate fear... that he will not obey an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” she said of Trump.

The former president's ex-White House chief of staff John Kelly said Trump “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist” in a new interview in The New York Times, which prompted a conversation this week about whether Trump should be labeled as such.

Harris, during the CNN town hall, said Americans should question why Kelly said that in an interview two weeks before election day and suggested it’s an emergency appeal.

“I think one has to think about, why would someone who’s served with him, who is not political… why is he telling the American people now,” Harris said. “He’s just putting out a 9-1-1 call to the American people. Understand what will happen if Donald Trump is back in the White House.”

Harris gave a speech earlier on Wednesday to respond to Kelly’s recent remarks, during which she argued that Trump has become more unstable and wants unchecked power. She quoted the retired general in labeling Trump a fascist.

Trump responded to Kelly in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday night, calling him a “lowlife” and a “total degenerate.” 

Harris also avoided labeling Trump directly as a fascist last week, when radio host Charlamagne tha God called Trump’s vision one of “fascism,” and Harris agreed that “we can say that.”