"Plotting revenge": Harris worries Trump might focus on "enemies list" in second term

As multiple former Trump officials call him a "fascist," Harris warns he could craft an "enemies list" in office

By Griffin Eckstein

News Fellow

Published October 24, 2024 3:51PM (EDT)

Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks onstage at her campaign rally at the Georgia State Convocation Center on July 30, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Julia Beverly/Getty Images)
Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks onstage at her campaign rally at the Georgia State Convocation Center on July 30, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Julia Beverly/Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris issued a dire warning about her opponent Donald Trump on Thursday.

In a Philidelphia presser announcing a slate of bipartisan endorsements of Harris overnight, she warned that Trump would plot revenge against his political rivals and asked voters what type of leadership they wanted to see come January 20.

“Either you have the choice of Donald Trump, who will sit in the Oval Office, stewing, plotting revenge, retribution, writing out his enemies list,” Harris said, “or what I will be doing, which is responding to folks like the folks last night with a to-do list, understanding the need to work on lifting up the American people.”

The messaging push comes as former Trump officials vocalize their opposition to a second Trump term, with former Chief of Staff John Kelly telling the New York Times this week that he believed Trump was a “fascist,” a label previously appended to Trump by Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley.

At the press conference, Harris touted two more Republican endorsements — from former GOP Congressman Fred Upton and Waukesha, Wisconsin mayor Shawn Riley — noting that the slate of Republicans supporting her campaign “understand what’s at stake.”

“They are weighing in, courageously in many cases, in support of what we need to have, which is a President of the United States that understands the obligation to uphold the Constitution,” Harris said.

The presidential hopeful also tossed a jab at her opponent, who backed out of a second debate against Harris, something the vice president dinged him for following her town hall on Wednesday night.

“As for last night, yet again, Trump’s not showing up," she said. "Clearly, his staff has been saying he’s exhausted, and the sad part of that is that he’s trying to be president of the United States, probably the toughest job in the world.”


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