Vice President Kamala Harris called former President Donald Trump a “fascist” and dodged questions about the effectiveness of a border wall during a high-stakes CNN town hall on Wednesday, just 13 days before the election.
Her performance was criticized almost immediately by Democratic strategist David Axelrod, who later said on CNN that she had become “word salad city” in several responses.
Harris appeared before undecided voters in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a swing area outside Philadelphia, while New Wall Street Journal survey showed Trump taking advantage over the Democrat nationally.
Pennsylvania is the most critical of the seven contested states and whoever wins its 19 Electoral College votes has the easiest path to the White House.
At the top of the town hall, CNN’s Anderson Cooper had Harris address the news of the day: that Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, said the Republican candidate fit the profile of a fascistasking the Democratic candidate if she agreed with that too.
“Yes, I do,” she replied. ‘Yeah. And I also think you should trust the people who know you best on this subject.’
She was less direct when Cooper asked Harris if she wanted to “build a wall,” while speaking in support of a bipartisan immigration bill that included funding for the wall.
Vice President Kamala Harris called former President Donald Trump a “fascist” and dodged questions about the effectiveness of a border wall during a high-stakes CNN town hall on Wednesday.
“I want to strengthen our border,” she responded instead.
An undecided college student had started the immigration conversation by asking about government benefits for immigrants.
Harris began answering the question with her usual rant, criticizing Trump for derailing the bipartisan deal. bill that would have provided, in his words, a “long-term” immigration solution.
Cooper noted that funding for the border wall was included in the bill and noted how Harris had previously called it “stupid” and a “medieval vanity project.”
‘Well, let’s talk about Donald Trump and that border wall. So remember that Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for it. Come on, they didn’t,’ he said, laughing. ‘How much of that wall did he build? I think the last figure I saw was around 2 percent. And then when it was time to do a photo shoot. Do you know where he did it? On the part of the wall that President Obama built.
Cooper again noted that the compromise bill included funding for the border wall.
“I’m not afraid of good ideas when they come, Anderson,” he replied.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper (center) watches Vice President Kamala Harris (left) answer a question during a town hall event in suburban Philadelphia Wednesday night aimed at undecided voters.
When asked if she thought the wall was no longer “stupid,” Harris again criticized Trump.
“I think what he did and how he did it didn’t make a lot of sense because he didn’t do much of anything,” he responded, refusing to say out loud that he was supporting a wall project.
Harris gave a particularly long-winded answer when a college student asked her how she would ensure that “not another Palestinian dies from bombs funded by American tax dollars.”
Harris told the young woman that she understood that “too many innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed.”
Cooper then pressed Harris on what she would say to voters who are tempted to vote for a third party or not vote at all for the war in Gaza.
‘Listen, I’m not going to deny the strong feelings people have. “I don’t know anyone who has seen the images and doesn’t have strong feelings about what happened, much less those who have family members who have died – and been murdered – and I know people and I have talked to people,” he said. he began.
‘So I appreciate that, but I also know that a lot of people who care about this issue also care about lowering the price of food. They also care about our democracy and not having a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.
‘They are also concerned about the fact that we need practical, common sense solutions. From a leader who is willing to work on behalf of the American people and not himself.
“They want a president who cares about a fundamental freedom, that of making decisions about his own body, understanding that we are not trying to change everyone’s beliefs, but that we do not allow the government to tell women what to do with their bodies “he stated. in.
Democratic pundits David Axelrod and Van Jones said that when Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t want to answer a question, what they said was that she went into ‘word salad’ mode.
Harris also continued Trump’s attacks throughout town hall.
When a woman asked him about the rise in anti-Semitism, he mentioned Kelly’s comments that Trump had asked why his generals were not similar to Hitler’s.
When Harris was asked if Trump, who has Jewish grandchildren, was anti-Semitic, the Democrat responded: “I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of the United States.”
He also deflected when Cooper asked him if he would be stronger than Trump on Israel.
That response, in particular, bothered Axelrod.
“When he doesn’t want to answer a question, his habit is to resort to word salad city and he did that on a couple of questions,” he said.
‘One was over Israel. “Anderson asked a direct question about whether you would be stronger on Israel than Trump and there was a seven-minute response, but nothing related to the question,” the Obama adviser complained.
Later that night, Axelrod noted that just because he criticized Harris’ answers doesn’t mean Trump is better.
—Have you heard their rallies? asked. “They are incomprehensible.”
Van Jones, a prominent CNN host who worked in the Obama administration, echoed Axelrod’s key point.
“The word salad gets on my nerves,” he said on air after finishing the town hall. “I think some of the evasions are not necessary.”
CNN’s Dana Bash later said that “if his goal was to close the deal, they’re not sure he did it.”
Five of the audience members later told CNN’s John King that they would not vote for Trump and were open to voting for Harris, but only two committed to voting for the Democratic candidate after Wednesday night’s town hall.