'You may not like the style': GOP congressman pushes back on Trump's former chief of staff calling him fascist

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The featured guest at a "get out the vote" event Wednesday at the Wisconsin GOP's Black voter outreach center brushed aside criticisms leveled against former President Donald Trump's former chief of staff.

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) said he didn't think undecided voters in this swing state would be swayed the John Kelly's interview with the New York Times. Kelly, who served as Mr. Trumps chief of staff between 2017 and 2019, said he believed Mr. Trump fit the dictionary definition of a fascist.

"Certainly, the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that." Kelly said in the recorded interview. "So, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”

Hunt represents the Houston suburbs. He previously served in the Army for eight years, and that includes a combat tour in Iraq. At Wednesday's event on Milwaukee's north side, he said voters will not be moved by Kelly's comments.

"When I talk to my military friends, [Trump] has the overwhelming support of the military," Hunt said. "He has the overwhelming support of first responders. And so, you gotta be very, very careful with those that have an axe to grind because they have a personal vendetta against him for whatever reason that might be."

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign views the criticisms differently and is enlisting Republicans weary of Mr. Trump in its final push across battleground states. Harris held a moderated conversation with former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney Tuesday night in Brookfield that centered on Mr. Trump's fitness for office.

Sean O'Keefe, who served as Secretary of the Navy for the final four months of George H.W. Bush's administration and was appointed NASA Administrator under George W. Bush, is doing media interviews on behalf of the Harris campaign.

O'Keefe told CBS 58 Wednesday he agreed Mr. Trump fits the definition of a fascist.

"You're either completely in on his approach to it or you're not only dismissed, you're one of the enemies," he said. "That's scary."

O'Keefe said he'd consistently voted for the Republican presidential nominee until 2016, when he voted for Hillary Clinton. He added he voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 and will vote for Harris this year because he does not believe Mr. Trump has the temperament to be president. 

He added he had several colleagues who also served in Trump's administration and came away disillusioned.

"Every single person I've heard of who's been associated with that administration all attest to the fact that this was erratic," O'Keefe said. "It was chaotic at times, and it was very much based on whatever impetuous decision that the president chose to exercise that day."

Hunt said he believed the criticisms from Cheney, Kelly and O'Keefe were all examples of people putting style over substance.

"We did not have any new wars while [Trump] was the president," Hunt said. "We were respected on a global scale, so you can say what you want about maybe his tactics, but I'll tell you what: They absolutely worked."

Hunt said he wanted to see the Trump campaign continue to focus primarily on the economy and immigration. The Harris campaign has touched on its economic plans in Harris' recent Wisconsin visits, including a proposal to have home health care for seniors covered by Medicare.

However, it's clear Democrats also want to make this election a question of whether Mr. Trump is fit to be president again.

In addition to the surrogate visits, the candidates, themselves, are spending plenty of time in Wisconsin during the campaign's final days. Harris was in Green Bay last Thursday and returned for Tuesday's event with Cheney. Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rallied in Racine after a campaigned earlier in the day with former President Barack Obama in Madison.

Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming said Mr. Trump will be back in Wisconsin "more than once" before Election Day. The former president previously said he would hold events in Milwaukee and Green Bay during the campaign's final days.