The two top Republican leaders in Congress criticized Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday for saying she believes that former President Trump is a fascist.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell accused Harris of raising the “threat environment” against Trump, who has faced two assassination attempts in recent months, by making the charge at a CNN town hall.
“Labeling a political opponent as a ‘fascist,’ risks inviting yet another would-be assassin to try robbing voters of their choice before Election Day,” Johnson and McConnell said in a joint statement. “[Harris] must abandon the base and irresponsible rhetoric that endangers both American lives and institutions.”
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Kamala Harris speaks during a CNN town hall on Wednesday. (Getty)
The two lawmakers said they have been briefed on ongoing threats to Trump and called on Harris to take the threats seriously, especially after the shooting that wounded Trump at a rally in July and a later apparent botched assassination try at his Florida golf club.
“Stop escalating the threat environment, and help ensure President Trump has the necessary resources to be protected from those threats,” they said.
The two did not address Trump’s own harsh comments aimed at Harris and other critics. At recent rallies, Trump has derided Harris as a “Marxist” and a “fascist.”
The former president recently attacked so-called “enemies within” like California Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He threatened to set the military against domestic protestors, a move that would be illegal.
Harris made the remark about Trump on CNN Wednesday when asked about recorded remarks from former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in which he said his ex-boss “fits the definition of a fascist.”
When asked if she believed 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.”
Ironically, McConnell has recently been in the spotlight himself for privately making scathing attacks on Trump.
The venerable Senate GOP leader derided Trump as “stupid as well as being ill-tempered,” and a “despicable human being” in the weeks after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
