Harris dodges whether she's more 'pro-Israel' than Trump at CNN town hall, instead invokes Putin, Jan. 6
Vice President Kamala Harris went to great lengths to avoid a question about whether she'd say she's more "pro-Israel" than former President Trump at Wednesday's CNN town hall.
"He's casting himself as a protector of Israel. Do you believe you would be more pro-Israel than Donald Trump?" CNN's Anderson Cooper asked.
What followed was a lengthy three-minute response to the question, none of it involving the Jewish State nor the ongoing wars in the Middle East.
"I believe that Donald Trump is dangerous," Harris responded. "I believe that when you have a President of the United States who has said to his generals who worked 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."
HARRIS DOUBLE DOWN ON ‘HITLER’ COMMENTS AT START OF CNN TOWN HALL: ‘UNSTABLE’
Harris then accused Trump of admiring dictators, citing the "love letters" between him and North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un and invoked the recent report alleging Trump sent COVID tests to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of the pandemic.
"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," Harris said. "So again, 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."
She continued, "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 we do believe in the importance of healthy debate on real issues. But there are certain standards we've got to have."
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The vice president then quickly pivoted to Jan. 6, and falsely claimed that police officers were "killed" in the Capitol Hill riot.
"And you know, another point that even John Kelly talked about, I believe, and many have, is January 6, 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," Harris said.
"And so I say that to say the American people deserve to have a president who encourages healthy debate, works across the aisle, [is] 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," Harris added.
"We're going to take a quick break. We'll have more from the CNN presidential Town Hall with Vice President Kamala Harris," Cooper told viewers without following up on his question.