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Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated "the danger and the threat that Donald Trump poses to America and the fact that he is unfit to serve," on Friday when asked about criticism of her rhetoric by Republican leaders.
"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."
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., released a relatively rare joint statement on Friday, demanding Harris cease using such rhetoric and reminding her of the two recent assassination attempts against Trump.
"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 Republican leaders said in the statement less than two weeks before the election.
Harris' campaign initially declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
"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.
"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," they said.
The statement noted that there have been two assassination attempts against Trump in the last several months, pointing out that "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."
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During a CNN town hall this week, Harris told host Anderson Cooper that she believes Trump is a fascist.
"Yes, I do. Yes, I do," she told Cooper when asked if she agreed with retired Gen. Mark Milley, who described Trump as "fascist to the core" in journalist Bob Woodward's latest book.
Cooper noted that Harris had cited Milley's quotes about Trump in the past.
Harris further referred to new interviews with Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly in The New York Times, in which he said Trump "certainly falls into the general definition of fascist."
Kelly further claimed Trump told him once that "Hitler did some good things, too."
Trump has denied saying this.
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According to the Kelly interview, he felt the need to speak out because of a recent comment Trump made in an interview on Fox News.
While speaking with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures," Trump was asked about concerns with regard to "chaos" on Election Day. The host noted a recent plot by an Afghan refugee that was foiled.
"I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and [are] destroying our country and by the way, totally destroying our country. The towns, the villages, they're being inundated," Trump began.
"But I don't think they have the problem in terms of Election Day. I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics," he said. "It should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen."
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Harris' campaign has since seized on the remark.
According to Johnson and McConnell, "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."
"This summer, after the first attempted assassination of a presidential candidate in more than a century, President Biden insisted that ‘we cannot allow this violence to be normalized.’ In September, after President Trump escaped yet another close call, Vice President Harris acknowledged that ‘we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,'" they pointed out.
However, "[t]hese words have proven hollow," they said.
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