Harris attacks Trump as a fascist instead of focusing on the economy

• Kamala Harris has stepped up her attacks on Donald Trump, echoing John Kelly’s view that he is a “fascist.”
• Her focus on Trump carries some risks as polls show voters remain more concerned about the economy.
• Harris is scheduled to deliver an important speech on Tuesday at a location strongly associated with January 6.

Kamala Harris he’s trying to escape Joe Biden’s unpopular shadow, but he’s ending his presidential campaign with what was once his core message.

Harris and her allies detained the former White House chief of staff John Kelly calling Donald Trump a “fascist.” Her campaign already has a TV ad with Kelly’s words.

Harris is scheduled to deliver a major speech on Tuesday at the same venue where Trump made debunked claims about the 2020 election on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, hours before rioters stopped acknowledging Trump’s defeat.

In a scene that few could have ever predicted, Harris is also relying on Republicans like former congresswoman Liz Cheney and conservatives like noted commentator Charlie Sykes to target more centrist voters.

Her strategy is not without risk.

“It’s a weak message that won’t work for her because it’s already been tried by President Biden over the last few years,” Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist, told Business Insider. “She should continue to sell herself to Americans who don’t already know her, and she only had 100 days to define herself.”

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Polls have been showing this for months economy remains a major concern for voters, although democracy is still important.

A New York Times-Siena College poll released Friday found the economy is the most important issue for 27% of the likely electorate. The state of democracy/corruption was next on the priority list related to abortion and immigration.

Harris had a 6 percentage point lead on who voters trusted to do a better job on democracy. However, Trump can still be trusted to manage the economy.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, told the Associated Press that Harris “needs to start paying more attention to the needs of working-class people.” Addressing concerns that she was misrepresenting her closing argument, Harris told reporters on Friday that voters could be considering multiple issues at once.

“One of the things I love about Americans is that we can think many things at once,” Harris said.

Ryan Williams, who worked on Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, said Harris’ decision to continue attacking Trump could trigger the wrong response from voters.

“It’s quite a somber and dark message at the end of the race, very different than when she entered the race – that belief that she was riding on the vibe and the joy,” Williams told Business Insider. “It’s not a happy ending to the campaign by going out and accusing your opponent of being Hitler.”

In an interview with The New York Times, Kelly, who also once led the Department of Homeland Security, said Trump fits the definition of a “fascist” and would essentially rule like a dictator if voters returned him to power. In response, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Kelly is a “low standard of living and a bad general.”

Trump is one of the most high-profile presidential candidates in history, making it difficult for new attacks to resonate. Polls show Trump is more popular now than when he left office in January 2021.

“Look, we’ve heard a lot of extreme things about Donald Trump, from Donald Trump, it’s kind of normal, really, unfortunately, with a guy like that at this point, the vote has been interfered with,” Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire recently told CNN when asked about Kelly’s statements.

People outside the Harris campaign say her approach is well-received.

Evan Roth Smith, chief pollster at BluePrint, pointed to his group’s results of testing various potential closing arguments. A message indicating that the vast majority of Trump’s cabinet does not support his term in 2024 and indicating that his actions on January 6 endangered then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Roth Smith said the current message is different because some of the harshest criticism comes from people who were once in the Trump White House.

“It’s very compelling when Republicans say nasty things about Republicans and not about any Republican, someone, or even more than one person, who was the face of the Trump administration itself,” he told Business Insider.