Kamala Harris delivered a short and searing statement today from the vice president’s official residence at the Naval Observatory, rarely a site for political events. She called Donald Trump “unhinged and unstable,” and said that reports that he made admiring remarks about Hitler offered voters “a window into who Donald Trump really is.”
Harris pointed to comments that John Kelly, the former Marine general and Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, made to my colleague Michael Schmidt. Kelly, across three interviews, said that Trump met the definition of a fascist and would govern like a dictator if re-elected. Listen to his comments.
Trump’s campaign has tried to discredit Kelly, and has denied his accounts.
Harris’s speech today, after which she took no questions, showed a shift in campaign strategy. As Democrats grow anxious about the closeness of the race, Harris is trying to turn the race into a referendum on the former president — a man they think they can convince enough voters to vote against.
Trump has also ramped up his attacks on Harris. His comments have become more personal and derogatory as Election Day nears.
More from the campaign trail:
Harris will do a town hall with CNN tonight. Trump has two events in Georgia, a battleground he appears to be narrowly leading.
An Omaha district could deliver a tiebreaking vote for Harris. Here’s what it’s like there.
Trump’s allies are reviving voting machine conspiracy theories with a blitz of lawsuits.
No, a voting machine did not “flip” a vote in Georgia.
Gender may be the defining issue of the election.