ASTON, Pa. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday was back in the Philadelphia suburbs for the second time this week to participate in a town hall in Delaware County. Harris took questions from undecided voters at the event, presented by CNN and hosted by Anderson Cooper, on the same date the network proposed a second debate between the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates — which Harris accepted and former President Donald Trump turned down.
Just before the town hall began, the Harris campaign announced that the vice president plans to lay out her campaign's closing argument by returning to the site near the White House where Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 — hoping it will crystalize for voters the fight between defending democracy and sowing political chaos.
Closing arguments are important opportunities for candidates to sum up their campaigns and make a concise case for why voters should back them. Trump’s campaign suggested he’d begin framing his closing argument while addressing a rally last weekend in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Instead, the former president spent more than 10 minutes talking about the genitals of the late, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, who was born in Latrobe.
Her campaign says Harris will give a speech at the Ellipse on Tuesday — one week before Election Day — and will urge the nation to “turn the page” toward a new era and away from Trump.
The site is symbolic, since it's where Trump delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was convening to certify Joe Biden's victory in the election that past November. In it, Trump lied repeatedly about widespread voter fraud that had not occurred and urged supporters to fight. Hundreds then stormed the Capitol in a deadly riot.
Trump has promised to pardon those jailed for their role in the Capitol attack should he reclaim the presidency in the general election on Nov. 5.
Harris told the audience that the Jan. 6 attack saw a “president of the United States defying the will of the people in a free and fair election and unleashing a violent mob who attacked the United States Capitol.”
The first audience question was from a self-described “anti-Trump Republican” who was concerned about the Jan. 6 attack.
“I believe the American people deserve better, and they deserve a president who is focused on solutions, not sitting in the Oval Office plotting every day,” Harris said.
'A president who admires dictators'
Harris also said Trump is “increasingly unstable and unfit to serve,” seizing on comments by his former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, about his former boss in interviews with The New York Times and The Atlantic published Tuesday warning that the Republican nominee meets the definition of a fascist and that while in office he suggested that the Nazi leader “did some good things.”
Harris said Kelly's comments offer a window into who the former president “really is” and the kind of commander in chief he would be.
When asked at the town hall if she believed that Trump is a fascist, Harris replied twice, “Yes, I do.” Later, she brought it up herself, saying Trump would, if elected again, be “a president who admires dictators and is a fascist.”
“I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of the United States of America," she said, saying the American people deserve a president who maintains “certain standards," which include “certainly not comparing oneself, in a clearly admiring way, to Hitler.”
The Trump campaign is pushing back on those allegations from the former president's longest-serving chief of staff. A short time later, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt responded, “Kamala will say anything to distract from her open border invasion and record high inflation."
During the event, Harris was asked how her presidency would be different from Biden’s given that she’s been a part of his administration for nearly four years — a question she's answered in recent weeks without naming major contrasts. This time, Harris seemed better prepared to talk about how things would be different, saying, “My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration” and saying she represented a “new generation of leadership on a number of issues.”
“I’m pointing out things that haven’t been done that need to be done,” the vice president said of Biden’s policies, also noting, “I’m not going to shy away from saying, ‘Hey, these are still problems that we need to fix.’” She pointed specifically to her promises to increase federal grants for small businesses and to expand government funding for home health care to people caring for their elderly parents and children simultaneously.
The vice president also mentioned praying every day, saying, “I was raised to believe in a loving God, to believe faith is a verb.”
Asked about the greatest weakness she’d bring to the White House, Harris offered, “I’m kind of a nerd sometimes, I confess” while admitting to making “parental mistakes” with her two stepchildren.
Philadelphia's Famous 4th Street Deli
Earlier on Wednesday, while in Philadelphia, Harris stopped by the Famous 4th Street Deli in Queen Village for a volunteer appreciation event.
The homey, Jewish-style deli, known for its extra-large sandwiches, opened in 1923, and boasts of smoking its own pastrami, pickling its corned beef and brining its pickles — but it is just as well-known for politics. It is a regular stopping point for politicians on Election Days in the city.
The place was packed with what Harris called "super volunteers," and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker was also in attendance. The vice president thanked supporters and politicos who have helped her campaign, and she paused for selfies with some volunteers and the mayor.
And when one man cried, “We’re gonna win,” Harris responded: “We are.” Later, while addressing the larger crowd, she was more superstitious, declaring, “Knock wood, God willing, we are going to win.”
Harris eventually signed an order sheet, then grabbed a to-go bag with a pastrami sandwich on rye and a slice of German chocolate cake.