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Even David Axelrod Thought Kamala Harris Gave Terrible Answers at Her Town Hall

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 25, 2024 5:00 PM

asDemocrats certainly look to be in disarray over Vice President Kamala Harris' chances against former and potentially future President Donald Trump with the election now less than two weeks away. When she appeared on CNN for a town hall on Wednesday, the network's own commentators, including fellow Democrats like David Axelrod, were less than pleased with her performance. 

Axelrod, as well as Van Jones, another liberal commentator, both lamented Harris' "word salad," a fitting criticism, but one we're usually used to hearing from conservatives. 

Axelrod noted that Harris "went to world salad city," while Jones also complained how "the word salad stuff gets on my nerves," adding, "some of the evasions are not necessary."

A particularly egregious part of the town hall focused on Harris' nonanswers on antisemitism and Israel. Harris, as we covered in Thursday's VIP, mostly just stuck to comparing Trump to Hitler and calling him "a fascist." Not only was Harris asked direct questions by moderator Anderson Cooper, but by an attendee as well, who wanted to know what she was doing about antisemitism. 

When answering a question about antisemitism, Harris gave something of an unremarkable response and then brought up Trump once more, noting, "I invite you to listen and go online to listen to John Kelly, the former chief of staff of Donald Trump, who has told us Donald Trump said, why -- essentially, 'why aren't my generals like those of Hitler's, like Hitler.'"

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The registered Democrat who asked that question is reportedly "undecided because of concerns about antisemitism."

Harris was asked direct questions by Anderson Cooper as well. Here's what the transcript revealed:

COOPER: Do you believe Donald Trump is Antisemitic?

HARRIS: I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of America.

COOPER: He has said that he -- he's casting himself as a protector of Israel. Do you believe you would be more pro-Israel than Donald Trump?

HARRIS: I believe that Donald Trump is dangerous. I believe that, when you have a president of the United States who has said to his generals, who work for him because he is commander in chief -- these conversations, I assume many of them took place in the Oval Office.

And if the president of the United States, the commander in chief, is saying to his generals, in essence, "Why can't you be more like Hitler's generals?" Anderson, come on. This is a serious, serious issue. And we know who he is. He admires dictators, sending love letters back and forth with Kim Jong-un; talks about the president of Russia, and then, most recently, the reports are that, in the height of COVID, when most Americans could not get their hands on a COVID test, Americans were dying by the hundreds a day, he secretly sent COVID tests to the president of Russia for his personal use.

So, again, there -- this -- this election in 13 days is presenting the American people with a very significant decision. And on the one side, on this issue of who is going to model what it means to use the bully pulpit of the president of the United States in a manner that, in tone, word and deed, is about lifting up our discourse, fighting against hate, as opposed to fanning the flames of hate, which Donald Trump does consistently.

I -- I'm going to tell you. We are an incredible country, and we love our country. You all wouldn't be here unless we love our country. And there are certain things where we've just got to come together and realize that -- that -- that we do believe in the importance of healthy debate on real issues, but there are certain standards we've got to have.

And, you know, another point that even John Kelly talked about, I believe, and many have, is January 6th, where you have the 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. One hundred forty law enforcement officers were attacked. Some were killed.

And so I -- I say that to say the American people deserve to have a president who encourages healthy debate, works across the aisle, not afraid of good ideas wherever they come from, but also maintains certain standards about how we think about the role and the responsibility, and certainly not comparing oneself in a clearly admiring way to Hitler.

Not only did Harris not mention her stance on Israel versus Trump's stance on Israel once in her nonanswer to Cooper's very direct question, but she continued to rant and rave with the Trump-Hitler comparison and even flatout lie about January 6. 

Axelrod wasn't too thrilled with that part of that town hall, either. When he said Harris went to "world salad city" with "a couple of answers," this included on Israel. "Anderson [Cooper] asked a direct question, 'would you be stronger on Israel than Trump,' and, uh, there was a seven minute answer, but none of it related to the question [Cooper] was asking," the Democratic strategist pointed out. 

Trump was a particularly pro-Israel president during his administration, and aims to be if elected once more. Just some of the examples of what Trump did during his four years as president included returning the Golan Heights to Israel, signing the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel and Arab countries, and moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, as a way to recognize it as the capital of the Jewish State. 

In stark contrast, one of the many foreign policy crises to take place during the Biden-Harris administration involved last year's attack from Hamas against Israel on October 7, during which terrorists brutally slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. Not even babies or Holocaust survivors were spared. Hamas terrorists also took approximately 250 hostages, many of whom are still in captivity, and engaged in rape and torture as well. The Biden-Harris administration has also emboldened Iran by relaxing sanctions, even after October 7. 

Democrats are meanwhile in disarray over supporting Israel versus catering to the pro-Hamas wing of their party, including voters Harris hopes to win over. 

The Biden-Harris administration has also been lacking on sufficiently addressing antisemitism, even when it comes to just putting out a timely and adequate response on the chaos taking place on college campuses around the country. 

While Harris depended on a very brief, nonanswer on antisemitism in the exchange above, Trump has fiercely condemned antisemitism on college campuses and has threatened to deport foreign nationals involved, while also reminding colleges and universities they will lose their accreditation if they don't stand up to the "antisemitic propaganda." Trump also signed an executive order on antisemitism during his first term.