Let me move on and and bring Chris Eliza into
this conversation.
So this is not the first time, Chris, reports of
Trump speaking favorably of Hitler have come up.
Accounts emerged a couple years ago, accounts which John Kelly
now confirms that and a large swath of the electorate
didn't seem to care then.
Well, these latest accounts hit differently.
So, you know, Anna, I think one of the most
difficult things here is that there's a very small number
of undecided voters and there has been for a while.
But but the closer we get, the more it shrinks.
And what's so difficult about that is not every undecided
voter is also a low or no information voter, but
lots of them are.
There's a reason that this close to the election, with
a force as polarizing as Donald Trump, they're still undecided.
So I always don't know if I'm being totally candid.
I don't know if this is the sort of thing
that moves the number.
What I will say in general is I would be
skeptical.
It would.
I think the kind of people that read The Atlantic
and the New York Times are probably likely already for
Kamala Harris and they are going to believe these accusations
and that's it.
People in the Trump base are going to dismiss it.
Now John Kelly is just unhappy Trump fired him.
The people in the middle is what I don't know
about.
The one thing I will add though is I believe
John Kelly because what reason do we have to think
he's lying?
Why would he lie to Shacks point?
This is not an anti Trump guy.
This is not a never Trump guy.
This is a guy who served as Donald Trump chief
of staff.
He was a head of the Department of Homeland Security.
There's nothing in John Kelly's resume up till now that
would suggest to me this is a guy who's out
to get Donald Trump, which is at least how he's
being portrayed by the Trump side.
So, Congressman, let's pick up on that because these are
not political attack ads calling Trump a fascist.
These are are not Democratic activists.
These are people who were hired by then President Trump
who worked in his White House.
So how can Democrats highlight the the nonpartisan nature of
this?
Well, I, I think they have to continue doing what
they're doing.
And that is get these messages coming from people who
serve Donald Trump, who willingly went into the White House
and who are now seriously calling into question Donald Trump's
leadership, his fitness for office, and highlighting some of the
things that he said.
I agree with Chris.
There is no reason not to believe John Kelly.
He hasn't sought the spotlight, but he has spoken, talking
the truth.
He's a man who took the oath of office and
served in in uniform.
Who are you going to believe, John Kelly or a
serial liar?
That is Donald Trump.
And I think for Democrats, it just got to get
these messages out in front of as many people as
possible.
And while there are only a few undecided voters, some
of those Haley voters and those folks who are sort
of sitting on the sidelines right now, this is information
that could put potentially move them.
Is it going to move the Trump base?
No, absolutely not.
But it's fighting over that really significant, those small group
of undecided voters.
I want to highlight Governor Tim Walz's reaction to all
of this last night in Wisconsin.
Listen, today it's been reported that Donald Trump said I
need the kind of generals that Hitler had.
Don't be the frog in the boiling water and think
this is OK.
As a 24 year veteran of our military, that makes
me sick as hell and it should make you sick.
The guardrails are gone.
Trump is descending into this madness.
Chris, with so much focus on the economy, on immigration,
on abortion rights throughout this campaign, are you surprised at
all that it seems to now be culminating with the
democracy issue?
I will be honest, I kind of am Anna, and
and I'll tell you why.
So Joe Biden centered his entire 2024 reelection campaign around
the sort of capital D democracy idea, the idea of
Donald Trump.
These are facts, not opinions.
Donald Trump undermined a free and fair election, sought to
overturn it and then incited or fomented or played a
role in doing that a riot on January 6th at
the US Capitol.
To me, that should be a big issue, maybe the
only issue.
I will say, though, that I talked to a number
of Democratic consultants who who were observing from outside and
they said it doesn't work.
It works for the Democratic base, Absolutely.
They think this is the fundamental, most important issue, but
it does not work for that.
The middle, the congresswoman was talking about that, that small
number of people who are undecided.
They just don't believe that democracy is going to go
away if Donald Trump is reelected.
Is has that changed since?
And I think that was part of the reason, by
the way, that Joe Biden wasn't getting traction.
Now, has that changed?
I don't know if I was Kamala Harris candidly, if
I was advising her campaign, I would say talk about
abortion in the morning, the afternoon, the evening and on
late night because I just think female voters are going
to decide the selection.
They've been the majority in every single presidential election since
1984.
They will be again.
This is an issue that is a loser every single
time for Donald Trump.
If he is talking about it, he is losing.
If Kamala Harris is talking about it, she is winning.
To me, when you get to the end like this
on it, you got to pick, right?
You have to prioritize it and I would prioritize abortion.
Well, this is stuff we we can't turn away from
though, right?
You don't want to to normal.
Totally true.
Any of this.
And and there's either by the way, can I just
can I just add?
I mean, again, I just want to make clear I
think this should be a fundamental issue of the election.
I'm just saying what I think is one guy, the
undecided voter out there, has shown time and time again
that, yes, they're concerned about democracy, but it's not the
only issue or the key issue for them.
That's all, No.
Here's another thing I wanted to to highlight from all
this new reporting, Congresswoman, that same Atlantic article has this
account of Trump in 2020 when he was president and
he he promised to pay for the funeral of Vanessa
Guillen and an Army private who was killed by a
fellow soldier.
Trump was reportedly told the funeral cost $60,000.
And quote, Trump became angry saying it doesn't cost 60,000
bucks to bury a bleeping Mexican.
He turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows at
the time and issued an order.
Don't pay it.
Later that day, he was still agitated.
Can you believe it?
He said, according to a witness.
Effing people trying to RIP me off.
The Trump campaign says Trump never said this.
Called it an outrageous lie.
Congresswoman, there is a clear pattern of Trump disparaging US
service members at this point.
Are Americans numb to this pattern, or is it going
to motivate them to vote against him?
No.
Look, I I think it's important again to highlight his
disdain for those who wear the uniform.
We hear it when he talks about his his generals.
We hear it when he talks about service members who
are disabled.
We hear it when he disparaged John McCain for being
imprisoned.
This is a pattern of of Donald Trump's.
And so I, I, I do think that again, it's
important to these questions bring into question Donald Trump's fitness
for office.
It's fitness to be commander in chief over that very
military.
And so do these comments surprise me?
Not at all.
But it is a pattern of Donald Trump's, and I
think it's really important when you're asking a question about
who should be commander in chief that this question of
how he disparages the military and service members should be
at the top of the list.