Analysis: Harris warns that “unhinged” Trump is seeking total power

CNN
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Kamala Harris is responding to Democrats' panic over her White House prospects by increasing pressure on Donald Trump.

The vice president warned Monday that the ex-president was “unstable,” “unsettled” and seeking “unchecked power” as she sent a note of urgency 21 days before the end of her campaign.

“Look at his rallies. Listen to his words. “He tells us who he is and he tells us what he would do if he were elected president,” Harris told a large crowd in Pennsylvania after a weekend in which Trump's authoritarian rhetoric reached frightening new heights the extreme nature of his potential deputy term implied.

Meanwhile, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz went even further, suggesting that the ex-president's consideration of using the military against enemies at home, which he described as the “enemy from within,” could even amount to treason.

Harris and her team also aggressively questioned Trump's mental fitness and ability to serve another term, turning the tables on the Republican candidate who had made similar allegations against President Joe Biden for months.

In another attempt by Harris to allay concerns about her apparently stalled momentum, she announced a major new initiative to woo black male voters amid fears that Trump will encroach on a critical Democratic support base or that she simply will not take part in the election.

And in a new ad campaign in the swing state of Arizona, Harris made new attempts to appeal to Republicans who were alienated by the ex-president's behavior but have yet to make what has been a difficult decision for many to cross party lines. To that end, Harris also announced that she would sit down for her first formal interview with Fox News, abandoning her previous reticence about unscripted events to provide a contrast with Trump, who is leading the conservative media bubble rarely leaves.

Harris' new efforts to set the pace of the election's final game came as both candidates campaigned in opposite corners of Pennsylvania. The commonwealth's 19 electoral votes could well decide who wins the White House, and like a handful of other battlegrounds, it's a bad call, according to the latest polls.

Harris is entering the crucial phase of her political life. Her actions under intense pressure over the next three weeks will be watched by remaining voters who have not yet made up their minds and may be looking for a reason to vote for her. It must also motivate wavering or unenthusiastic Democratic-leaning voters who may not show up on Election Day.

More broadly, the vice president faces one of the most difficult political tasks in decades after succeeding Biden as the Democratic nominee months before the election. She is trying to convince a disgruntled electorate that she is a candidate for change despite being part of an unpopular administration, while also trying to topple Trump, who has shown he will do almost nothing to regain power .

But Harris' efforts to close the deal against the former president are complicated by his refusal to meet her for a second debate after her strong performance in their first showdown in September gave her campaign a boost.

In a new section of her short speech, Harris played to her raucous crowd in Erie a tape of Trump's comment on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures” that he could use the National Guard or the regular military to attack “the enemy from within.”

“You heard his words,” Harris said. “He's talking about the enemy in Pennsylvania… he considers anyone who doesn't support him or bend to his will to be an enemy of our country.” The vice president added: “Donald Trump is becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged, and he's striving for uncontrolled power.”

Shortly before Harris spoke, her vice president revealed Democrats' clearest assessment yet of Trump's potential threat to basic political freedoms if he wins a second term. Walz, the Minnesota governor, said the idea that a president could use troops against Americans made him “sick to his stomach.”

And the Army National Guard veteran highlighted a comment by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley that Trump is “a fascist through and through,” which Bob Woodward reports on in his new book, “War.” Walz added: “Let that sink in and don’t be afraid to say it because that’s exactly who he is. That’s exactly what he is.”

However, Trump's vice presidential candidate JD Vance defended his boss's comments. “Is it a justified use of these assets when there is rioting, looting and burning of cities? Of course it is. Right?” the Ohio senator said in Minneapolis. “I think the question is, is it a justifiable use of assets? Depends on what actually happens.”

Why the former defense secretary fears Trump would try to use the military against US citizens

Democratic rhetoric about Trump is increasing as Democrats begin to consider the consequences of the ex-president winning a blown election and securing a second term that is likely to be even less restrictive than his first. Former President Barack Obama set the tone during his own tour of Pennsylvania last week.

Harris suggested in an interview with Roland Martin that Trump had something to hide. “He won’t debate me again. I released my medical records, he won't release his medical records. And you have to ask yourself: Why are his employees doing this? And it might be because they think he's just unwilling, incompetent and unstable and shouldn't have that level of transparency for the American people.”

During an appearance on MSNBC's “Morning Joe,” second gentleman Doug Emhoff asked questions about the 78-year-old former president's mental and physical condition. Like his wife, he noted that Trump walked out of a “60 Minutes” interview, saying, “When you look at him and listen to him, you can see the humiliation right in front of your eyes.”

He added: “He's a degraded version of an already terrible human being, so he's just getting worse.”

At her rally in Erie, Harris put on an energetic show that looked like an attempt to allay Democrats' fears that the momentum she built after Biden took office in July would not result in a clear lead over the ex-president has led.

“We will win. We will win,” she emphasized with a beaming smile.

Erie County, in far northwestern Pennsylvania, is a miniature study of the broader strategic statewide battle Harris and Trump face over the next three weeks. Biden won the county by one percentage point in 2020, but the former president carried the county by nearly 2,000 votes in 2016 en route to the White House. The city of Erie is a Democratic stronghold, but the battle between Harris and Trump will be fierce among moderate voters in the suburbs, and Trump will seek to make huge electoral gains in rural and farming communities.

The twice-impeached former president appeared at a town hall event in Oaks, northeast of Philadelphia, alongside South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a star in the conservative media firmament.

The event highlighted issues such as the cost of living and housing, which Trump's team sees as key to the election. One of the most critical questions for undecided voters in the coming days is whether the pressures on many American families – such as high food prices – will outweigh concerns about Trump's extremism and threats to democracy.

Harris wasn't the only candidate targeting a key constituency on Monday. (She unveiled a plan to make it easier for Black men who want to start businesses to access finance and a health care initiative to increase screenings for conditions that disproportionately affect the community.) Trump tried, among young men to gain a foothold, who are often low-propensity voters but who could contribute to his coalition.

He appeared on the Nelk Boys' “Full Send” podcast, which has more than 2 million subscribers on YouTube, and chatted expertly about UFC combat sports stars in conversations that displayed the kind of authenticity many voters like. He also appeared to confirm that he would appear on Joe Rogan's wildly popular podcast, the latest example of how he and Harris are looking to non-traditional media sources to reach Americans who often don't vote.