All three major cable news networks carried Vice President Kamala Harris‘ brief remarks on the latest twist in the presidential campaign: John Kelly, Donald Trump‘s former chief of staff, going on record via audio to say that the Republican nominee “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist.”
“Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrail against his propensities and actions,” Harris said.
“So the bottom like is this: We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power.”
Kelly’s comments to The New York Times, as well as statements to The Atlantic, were covered on network morning shows and other major media, albeit not to the level of a genuine October surprise. What was different was that Kelly confirmed, in his own voice, previous reporting that Trump had called members of the military “suckers” and “losers.”
Kelly also told the Times that Trump “commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too’.” The Atlantic reported that Trump also said that he “needed the kind of generals that Hitler had.” Trump’s campaign spokesperson denied it.
A challenge for Harris’ campaign has been that some of the comments have been reported before, including by The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg during the 2020 cycle, and in Peter Baker and Susan Glasser’s book The Divider.
Harris’ campaign held a press call earlier today with retired U.S. Army Brigadier General and Republican Steve Anderson and Army Reserve Colonel Kevin Carroll, who was formerly senior counselor to Kelly, and they were asked about the “fatigue” that has set in, in the media and the public, over some of Trump’s comments. “I think it is breaking through, and I think it should break through because the president’s statements have been getting more and more unhinged,” Carroll said.
Trump’s campaign called Harris’ comments a response to “the latest Fake News smear against President Trump — her closing message to Americans with just 13 days until the election.”
On Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade defended Trump. He noted that in his book, H.R. McMaster, who served as Trump’s national security adviser, wrote that Kelly and then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis “didn’t like the president” and went out of their way “to make sure a lot of things he asked them to do that they didn’t like never got done.”
McMaster “would say, ‘It’s not your job to rein in the president. It is your job to do what the president wants.”
Trump “obviously has frustration. I could absolutely see him go, now, you know what? It would be great to have German generals that actually do what we ask them to do, knowing that is not being fully cognizant of the third rail of German generals who were Nazis and whatever. But he was frustrated with the slowdown of commands that were not implemented.”
Both campaigns have tapped non-traditional media to try to reach the remaining undecided voters. Trump is appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Friday; Harris’ campaign reportedly considered doing the popular show but no interview has been announced.
