As Townhall has been covering, Vice President Kamala Harris has been ramping up her attacks against former and potentially future President Donald Trump, repeatedly referring to him as a "fascist" and comparing him to Adolf Hitler. This comes even as Trump has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reminded Harris.
A press release began by mentioning that such a statement from the Republican leaders was in response to comments that Harris made during her CNN town hall event on Wednesday night.
The statement also referenced Harris own words from back in September, when there was a second attempt on Trump's life. "Vice President Harris acknowledged that 'we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,'" the Republican leaders' statement reminded.
And yet such words could hardly sound more useless coming from her. "These words have proven hollow. In the weeks since that second sobering reminder, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States has only fanned the flames beneath a boiling cauldron of political animus. Her most recent and most reckless invocations of the darkest evil of the 20th century seem to dare it to boil over. The Vice President's words more closely resemble those of President Trump's second would-be assassin than her own earlier appeal to civility," the statement continued.
Even more chilling is the reminder about the manifesto said to be from the suspected second would-be assassin, Ryan Routh, who issued a call to other Americans. Harris is continuing that same rhetoric.
"The man who was caught waiting in ambush in Florida left others with a chilling call to arms: 'It is up to you now to finish the job'. Labeling a political opponent as a 'fascist,' risks inviting yet another would-be assassin to try robbing voters of their choice before Election Day," the statement continued.
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"Vice President Harris may want the American people to entrust her with the sacred duty of executive authority. But first, she must abandon the base and irresponsible rhetoric that endangers both American lives and institutions," Johnson and McConnell wrote from there, pointing out how Harris actually expects to get a promotion. "We have both been briefed on the ongoing and persistent threats to former President Donald Trump by adversaries to the United States, and we call on the Vice President to take these threats seriously, stop escalating the threat environment, and help ensure President Trump has the necessary resources to be protected from those threats," the concluded, as if there was any question that this isn't a serious matter.
My joint statement with @LeaderMcConnell calling for Vice President Harris to stop using dangerous rhetoric: pic.twitter.com/4qhBaqR3S1
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 25, 2024
The letter is even more noteworthy since it's a show of unity from different Republican leaders. Johnson will be at Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday--which Democrats have also used to liken Trump to Nazis--while McConnell has criticized the MAGA movement. Yet the two still came together to tell the Democratic nominee to knock it off.
As Fox News reported later that day, Harris was asked about such a statement in a rare moment of speaking to reporters. While she paid lip service in denouncing "political violence," there was sure enough a "but" in there:
"Well, listen, we all must speak out against any form of political violence, and I'm very clear about that. No one should be the subject of violence," she told reporters, according to a press pool report.
"But the American people deserve to be presented with facts and the truth. And the fact and the truth is that some of the people closest to Donald Trump when he was president, generals, including most recently, John Kelly, a four-star Marine General, have been very clear about the danger and the threat that Donald Trump poses to America and the fact that he is unfit to serve. And the American People deserve to hear that and know about that," the vice president continued.
Her campaign was initially silent following a call from Republican congressional leaders for her to stop using "dangerous rhetoric," such as referring to Trump as a "fascist."
Harris, President Joe Biden, and this administration as a whole like to claim that they've been "very clear" even when that's not quite the case. If anything, Harris has been "very clear" about doubling down on the "fascist" and Hitler narratives.
Johnson and McConnell aren't the only ones to take issue with Harris' rhetoric, though. A video message from Jerry Wartski, a 94-year-old survivor of Auschwitz and the Nazi death marches was trending over X on Friday as well, in which Wartski made it very clear what he thinks of Harris' narrative.
"Adolph Hitler invaded Poland when I was nine-years-old," Wartski shared, as pictures of his family are shown. "He murdered my parents and most of our family. I know more about Hitler than Kamala will ever know in a thousand lifetimes," he continued as he revealed his tattoo from Auschwitz. "For her to accuse President Trump of being like Hitler is the worst thing I've ever heard in my 75 years of living in the United States."
"I know President Trump and he would never say this, and Kamala Harris knows this. She owes my parents and everybody else who was murdered by Hitler an apology for repeating this lie," Wartski also insisted.
🚨WATCH: Auschwitz survivor Jerry Wartski rips Kamala Harris for calling President Trump a fascist:
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 25, 2024
“I know more about Hitler than Kamala will ever know in a thousand lifetimes. For her to accuse President Trump of being like Hitler is the worst thing I've ever heard in my 75… pic.twitter.com/bdPnCImHRn
On Saturday, former state Rep. Dov Hikind of New York, who until last year was a Democrat and is the son of a Holocaust survivor, had a message for Harris as well as Hillary Clinton. As we also covered, Clinton has been among those likening Trump to Nazis for holding a rally at MSG. The Nazis held a rally at MSG on February 10, 1939, with MSG being held at a completely different location at the time.
Hikind called such narratives a sign of "clear desperation in the Democratic Party." He went on to demand, "my God, what the hell is wrong with these people?!"
Making Clinton's point even more nonsensical is that Hikind also pointed out that "half the place [at MSG] is going to be Jews there to support Donald Trump!"
Hikind concluded that "to call [Trump] a fascist, to compare to the Nazis the events at Madison Square Garden, shame on them, shame. They are so freaking desperate and they are ready to destroy America!"
Both Wartski and Hikind made clear their support for Trump, especially when it comes to his support for the Jewish people and for Israel.
My mother and her entire family were sent to Aushwitz. How despicable of @HillaryClinton & @VP for making any reference to Hitler and Nazis in relation to the @realDonaldTrump rally @TheGarden
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) October 27, 2024
Shame on the Democratic party! pic.twitter.com/rTsUIRIZ0g
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