Vice President Kamala Harris held a town hall in the key state of Pennsylvania on CNN on Wednesday, where she went after former President Donald Trump and laid out her vision for how she would govern if elected.
The town hall, hosted by Anderson Cooper, was a stand-in event for what would have been the second presidential debate of the 2024 campaign had Trump not declined to participate. It featured questions from undecided voters and offered some of the least scripted exchanges of the campaign.
There were only thirteen days left until Election Day and millions of early votes had already been cast, in a race that most polls showed could go either way.
These were the most important conclusions from the town hall.
Harris says she considers Trump a fascist
As she had done earlier in the day during the campaign, Harris seized on comments from Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly, who told the New York Times that Trump had personally praised the Nazi generals and that he was convinced that the Germans fascist leader Adolf Hitler did. some good things.”
Cooper asked Harris what she would say to voters who still support Trump despite testimony from former members of his administration.
“I do believe that Donald Trump is unstable, increasingly unstable and unfit to serve,” Harris said, “and I don’t necessarily think everyone has heard what you and I have heard repeatedly, which is the people who know Donald Trump. Dear, the people who worked with him in the White House, in the Situation Room, in the Oval Office, all the Republicans, by the way, who served in his administration, his former chief of staff, his national security advisor, former defense secretaries and his deputies president have all called him unfit and dangerous.”
Cooper later referenced General Mark Milley’s claim that Trump is “fascist to the core,” and asked Harris if she believed Trump is “a fascist.”
“Yes, I do,” Harris replied.
‘The price of groceries is still too high’
Asked by an independent, undecided voter who was responsible, Biden or Trump, for the spike in inflation, and what she would do to bring down grocery prices, Harris began by acknowledging that “the price of groceries is still too high.” is high.”
She then added that her priority would be to lower prices, and touted her work as California’s attorney general to crack down on price gouging, as well as her new plan to issue a “national ban” to to tackle in practice.
She also promoted her plan to build affordable housing to lower rents for the average American. “I use my experience because I know what has happened when it comes to companies buying up blocks to reduce competition and then rents go up,” she said.
Harris then issued her first mild criticism of President Biden, saying, “Frankly, for too long, both administrations, both administrations and both parties, Democrats and Republicans, have not done enough to address the issue of housing. We need a new approach.”
Cooper cited Harris’ plan on price gouging, noting that it specifically addressed times of need. “How does that help someone like” the man who asked the question? Cooper asked.
Harris said price gouging is a real and ongoing problem in states like Georgia and North Carolina as they try to recover from Hurricane Helene. “I took up this issue because it affects a lot of people,” she said.
Harris says she supports building more border walls
A registered Republican voter who said he was inclined to vote for Harris asked her how she would ensure that “every immigrant to the US is safely integrated into American society” and what benefits and subsidies they would receive, whether American taxpayers would pay for it and how much would be spent.
“Let’s start with this: America’s immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed,” Harris began, before focusing on her support for a bipartisan border bill scuttled by Trump in early 2024.
Cooper pointed to record numbers of migrant border crossings in 2022 and 2023, which led to the Biden administration issuing executive orders in June 2024. “Why didn’t your government do that in 2022, 2023?” he asked, acknowledging that the number of migrants crossing the border had dropped significantly.
“First of all, you’re absolutely right, Anderson,” Harris responded, “and as of today we have cut the flow of immigration in half, in fact the numbers I saw most recently, illegal immigration –”
“But if it was that easy with executive action,” Cooper interjected, “why not do it in 2022, 2023?”
“Because we were working with Congress and hoping that we could actually find a long-term solution to the problem rather than a short-term solution,” Harris said, adding that “this problem will ultimately be solved by congressional action.”
This was followed by another back-and-forth on immigration, with Cooper asking about the part of the bipartisan Harris bill that funds continued construction of the wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
“You’re passing a bill that would free up $650 million to continue building that wall,” Cooper said after noting Harris’ previous criticism of the barrier.
“I commit to advancing that bipartisan bill to further strengthen and secure our border,” Harris said, later adding, “Let’s solve this problem. Let’s just solve it.”
Ditching the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade
After Harris repeatedly brought up Trump’s nomination of conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. WadeCooper pressed her on her promise to codify the decision that guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide.
“This obviously requires sixty votes in the Senate, a majority in the House of Representatives. That’s a big leap. We don’t have that yet,” Cooper said, adding, “What are you doing?”
“I think we need to look at the filibuster, to be honest,” Harris responded, referring to an exception that would require a simple majority in the Senate to pass national abortion protections.
In an appeal to undecided voters, Harris pointed to the flurry of strict anti-abortion laws passed in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, some of which make no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. She had campaigned with former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who she said is “unapologetically pro-life and will also tell you she doesn’t agree with what happened.”
Discusses her own policy changes
A male Republican voter who said he was inclined to vote for Harris asked her about some of her changing policy positions, such as fracking.
“First of all, I have been very clear about fracking. In 2020 we more or less got rid of that. I’m not going to ban fracking. I didn’t do that as vice president,” she responded, adding: “My value on the issue of what we need to do to invest in a clean energy economy and a clean energy future has not changed, but honestly, I now have the experience and perspective of having been vice president for almost four years. I’ve traveled around the country. I know we can invest in a clean energy economy and still not ban fracking, and still do what we need to do to create more jobs.”
Cooper then brought up Harris’ past support for Medicare for All and the view that border crossings should be decriminalized: “Have all those issues that you’re saying – through consensus and getting things done – evolved?”
“Let’s take the issue of Medicare for example. My point has always been that access to healthcare should not just be a privilege of those who can afford it. It should be a right for all people,” Harris responded.
Cooper later asked Harris if she thought fracking, which releases methane emissions, was bad for the environment.
“I think we have proven that we can invest in a clean energy economy, that we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that we can work to conserve what we need to do to protect this beautiful earth of ours and that we cannot ban fracking,” Harris said.
‘I pray every day’
Harris showed a personal side of herself at several points during the town hall, such as when Cooper asked her about a report that she sought out her pastor after hearing from Biden that he was withdrawing from the presidential race.
“Well, my pastor, Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, Third Baptist Church, It was an extraordinary day that Sunday when the President called me. I instinctively understood the gravity of the moment, the seriousness of the moment. I didn’t predict or know how that day was going to go,” Harris said, adding, “I just called him. I need that kind of spiritual connection. I needed that advice. I needed a prayer.”
Harris added that she and Brown discussed the “part of Scripture that talks about Esther” and that “it was very comforting to me.”
Cooper asked if she prayed every day.
“I pray every day,” she said, “sometimes twice a day.”
Palestinian deaths, anti-Semitism and Hitler’s generals
Harris was asked by a female voter what she would do “to make sure.” [that] not another Palestinian dies as a result of bombs financed with American taxpayer money.”
“I will say, and I think this is exactly your point, that far too many innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed,” Harris responded. “It’s unconscionable and we’re at a point now where we’re dealing with it [Yahya] After Sinwar’s death, I believe we have an opportunity to end this war, bring the hostages home, provide relief to the Palestinian people, and work toward a two-state solution in which Israel and the Palestinians have equal security and the Palestinian people has dignity and self-esteem. determination and the security they so rightly deserve.”
Another female undecided voter then asked Harris how she would combat “the growing trend” of anti-Semitism on American college campuses.
“We’ve seen an increase in anti-Semitism, and it’s something we need to be honest about,” Harris said, pointing to her work on this issue as California’s attorney general. “Part of what we need to do is talk to people so they understand what the characteristics are, what the roots are of what we’re seeing, so we can actually get people more understanding. We need laws that ensure that those who commit crimes in the name of anti-Semitism and hatred face serious consequences.”
Harris then turned back to Trump. “I’m going to tell you what doesn’t help. I invite you again to go online and listen to John Kelly, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, who told us that Donald Trump essentially said, ‘Why are my generals like Hitler’s?’”
“Do you believe Donald Trump is anti-Semitic?” Cooper asked Harris.
“I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of America,” she responded.
