Key moments from Harris town hall where she dodged some questions, called Trump 'fascist'

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris faced questions from undecided voters during a town hall hosted by CNN on Wednesday night.

Harris and former President Donald Trump are both visiting battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, just 12 days before the election.

Harris' town hall remarks in Pennsylvania are under scrutiny, even by those in her party.

Democratic strategist David Axelrod weighed in and called out some of Harris' performance.

"When she doesn't want to answer a question, her habit is to kinda go to word salad city, and she did that in a couple of answers," Axelrod, who is a CNN contributor, said during a panel conversation following the event.

Harris' take onthe Palestinian people

A woman in the audience asked Harris how she would make sure thatno more Palestinians die due to bombs funded by U.S. tax dollars.

The VP responded, "So I will say, and I think this is to your point, far too many innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed. It’s unconscionable. And we are now at a place where, with Sinwar’s death, I do believe we have an opportunity to end this war, bring the hostages home, bring relief to the Palestinian people, and work toward a two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinians in equal measure have security, where the Palestinian people have dignity, self-determination, and the safety they so rightly deserve."

CNN's Anderson Cooper then asked Harris a follow-up question asking her what she would say to third-party voters or people considering not voting at all because of the conflict in the Middle East.

"Listen, I am not going to deny the strong feelings that people have. I don’t know anyone who has seen the images who would not have strong feelings about what has happened, much less those who have relatives who have died and been killed, and I know people and I've talked with people. So I appreciate that, but I also do know that for many people who care about this issue, they also care about bringing down the price of groceries, they also care about our democracy, and not having a President of the United States admire dictators, and is a fascist. They also care about that we need practical common-sense solutions from a leader who is willing to work across the aisle on behalf of the American people and not themselves. They want a president who cares about a fundamental freedom, to make decisions about your own body, understanding that we're not trying to change anyone's belief, but let's not have the government telling women what to do with their body, " Harris responded.

Harris' Middle East response is one of the issues Axelrod had.

"One was on Israel. Anderson asked a direct question: 'Would you be stronger on Israel than Trump?' And there was a seven-minute answer, but none of it related to the question he was asking,' said Axelrod.

Harris agrees Trump is a fascist

Other key moments from the town hall were when Harris was asked if she thought Trump was afascist.

Harris replied bluntly to Cooper's question, "Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted."

Her answers came after earlier in the day, Trump's former chief of staff, John Kelly, used the same term to describe the45th president of the United States.

It's important to note thatTrump denied Kelly’s allegations, and Mike Pence's former chief of staff, Nick Ayers, disputed Kelly's claims.

Cooper also asked Harris if she believes Trump is antisemitic. Harris didn't agree, but instead said, "I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of America."

Democratic presidential nominee dodges question if she's more "pro-Israel" that Trump

Cooper then asked the vice president if she would be more pro-Israel than Trump.

"I believe that Donald Trump is dangerous. I believe that when you have a president of the United States who has said to his generals who work for him because he is commander in chief, these conversations, I assume many of them took place in the Oval Office. And if the president of the United States, the commander in chief is saying to his generals in essence, why can't you be more like Hitler's Generals? Anderson? Come on."

Harris' response continued but without mention of Israel.

VP's plan to tackle high prices

A member of the audience asked Harris how she planned on bringing down the high prices of groceries.

"The price of groceries is still too high and we need to address it in a number of ways. One of my aspects of doing what we need to do to bring down the cost of living for working people and the middle class in America is to address the issue of grocery prices. Part of my background and how I come to it is probably with a new approach grounded. A lot of my experiences as a former attorney general, where I took on price gouging, and part of plan is to create a new approach that is the first time that we will have a national ban on price gouging, which is companies taking advantage of the desperation of the need of the American consumer and jacking up prices without any consequence or accountability," responded Harris.

Harris' stance on immigration and the border wall

She refused to say that the Biden administration should have issued an executive order sooner to limit asylum at the U.S. southern border in order to curb the influx of migrants. Instead, she argued that a bipartisan compromise is needed.

"I think we [Biden administration] did the right thing," she said.

She then added, "I pledge that I am going to bring forward that bipartisan bill to further strengthen and secure our border. Yes, I am. And I'm going to work across the aisle to pass a comprehensive bill that deals with a broken immigration system. I think Jackson's question, part of it, was to acknowledge that America has always had migration, but there needs to be a legal process for it. People have to earn it. And that's the point that, I think is the most important point that can be made, which is we need a president who is grounded in common sense and practical outcomes. Like, let's just fix this thing. Let's just fix it. Why is there any ideological perspective on, let's just fix the problem."

Cooper pointed out that the $650 million compromise bill that was earmarked under Trump would still go toward building a wall at the southern border.

"I'm not afraid of good ideas where they occur, she responded.

"So you don't think it's stupid anymore," Cooper asked.

"I think what he did and how he did it did was did not make much sense, because he actually didn't do much of anything. I just talked about that wall, right? We just talked about it. He didn't actually do much of anything," Harris explained

"But you do want to build some wall," Cooper then asked.

Harris avoided the answer saying, "I want to strengthen our border."

Harris' weaknesses

A voter in the crown asked the vice president about her weaknesses.

"I am certainly not perfect, so let's start there,” she said with a laugh.

Harris said she surrounds herself with "very smart people" whom she pushes for answers on complicated topics.

"I’m constantly saying, ‘Let’s kick the tires on that,'" she said. Harris said she's cautious because “my actions have a direct impact on real people in a very fundamental way."

Overall thoughts on town hall performance

Alxelrod, who was the former Obama White House advisor, called the town hall "mixed night."

He did praise Harris. "I think she was very strong coming out of the gate, and she obviously came with a purpose," he said during the panel discussion.