Trump calls Harris a fascist and says he is 'the opposite of a Nazi'

CNN
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Donald Trump told his supporters in Georgia on Monday that he was “the opposite of a Nazi” as he responded to comparisons of his Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden to a pro-Nazi gathering at the same location in 1939.

The former president also tried to turn criticism of his rally into a flashpoint for all Trump supporters by falsely claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris was calling those who cast their votes for him Nazis.

“The latest line from Kamala and her campaign is that anyone who doesn’t vote for her is a Nazi,” Trump told his supporters at a rally in Georgia, a line his Democratic rival hasn’t actually uttered.

Harris pounced last week after The Atlantic reported that Trump had expressed admiration for the loyalty of Adolf Hitler's Nazi generals at the White House. That report was backed up by retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, who separately told the New York Times that Trump met the definition of a fascist.

Harris responded to those reports in a CNN town hall, saying she believes Trump is a fascist and that “the people who know him best on this issue should be trusted.” Her campaign also used The Atlantic's report and Kelly's comments in ads in recent days.

Trump appeared to respond to those comments Monday night in Georgia, saying his father had urged him never to call people Nazis or Hitler.

“He always said, 'Never use the word Nazi.' Never use that word.' And he would say, “Don't ever use the word Hitler.” “Don't use that word,” Trump said.

Referring to Democrats, Trump added: “They use that word – actually, it's both words. 'He's Hitler.' And then they say, 'He's a Nazi.'”

“I am not a Nazi,” Trump said. “I am the opposite of a Nazi.”

Trump also responded to Harris calling him a fascist by saying, “She’s a fascist, okay? She’s a fascist.”

Trump's description of Harris comes even though Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell days earlier called the vice president's use of the word “reckless” and claimed it could lead to violence.

The attacks on Harris come amid the political fallout from Trump's Sunday rally at the iconic Madison Square Garden, where a comedian representing the former president called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” – a comment that drew widespread condemnation and a backlash from many sparked rapidly growing Latino group in Pennsylvania.

Harris told reporters on Monday that the inflammatory remarks at the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden were “nothing new” for a former president who regularly used violent rhetoric against undocumented immigrants.

“It’s just more of the same and maybe more vibrant than usual,” Harris said. “Donald Trump spends all his time trying to get Americans to point fingers at each other. He is stoking the fuel of hatred and division, and that is why people are exhausted by him.”

Harris did not call Trump or his supporters Nazis. However, her vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said Sunday there was “a direct parallel” between Trump's wild rally at Madison Square Garden and the infamous 1939 gathering of Nazi supporters at New York City's famed arena .

“And don’t think for a second that he doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing there,” Walz said.

Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, complained about the comparison on Monday.

“They decided to literally compare us to Nazis because we gathered at Madison Square Garden and celebrated the United States of America. Of course, these are the same people who call us racists because we want to secure the southern border. These are the same people who have no plans, no ideas and no solutions. All they have is hatred for their fellow citizens,” Vance said at a campaign stop in Wisconsin.

Later, at another event, Vance argued that the values ​​of American soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight Nazi Germany in World War II were far removed from the policies Harris espoused.

“If you think these brave men fought for an open border and gender reassignment surgeries for illegal immigrants,” Vance said, “the right term for you is 'dipsh*t.'

CNN's Kit Maher, Aaron Pellish, Nikki Carvajal, Michael Williams and Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.