Harris cites Trump more than two dozen times while pressed for policy issues in CNN town hall

Fox News found that during the CNN town hall in Chester, Pennsylvania, Harris mentioned Trump by name 26 times, while Trump was mentioned overall by moderator Anderson Cooper or audience members a total of 43 times. The CNN town hall kicked off at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and wrapped up around 10:15 p.m.

Harris was pressed on issues such as her border policies the last three and a half years as vice president, and how she would tackle immigration differently if she was elected president. At one point, Cooper pressed Harris on her support of a bipartisan bill that would provide funding for a border wall that she previously lambasted as a "stupid" idea when promoted by Trump during his administration. 

Harris pivoted from directly answering the question to citing Trump. 

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

"I think what he did and how he did it 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," she responded, not citing Trump by name, but referring to his leadership as president. 

"By the way, again, Donald Trump should be here tonight to talk with you and answer your questions. He's not, he refused to come. But understand that part of his plan is to put in place a national sales tax of at least 20% on everyday goods and necessities, and that, by economist estimates - independent economists - would cost you, as the American consumer and taxpayer, an additional $4,000 a year," Harris claimed. 

Harris was also asked about codifying Roe v. Wade, which sparked the vice president to again attack Trump while signaling support to end the filibuster. 

"I think we need to take a look at the filibuster, to be honest with you. But the reality of it is this, let's talk about how we got here. When Donald Trump was president, he hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v Wade," she said. "And they did as he intended. And now, in 20 states, we have abortion bans." 

Harris was directly asked about Trump a handful of times during the debate - with her answers included in the total count of 26 Trump mentions - most notably when Cooper asked her about an X post comparing Trump to Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler. Earlier Wednesday, former Trump administration chief of staff John Kelly claimed to the media that Trump praised "Hitler's generals" for their loyalty, which Harris repeated in an X post that day. 

Harris sat down last week for her first interview with Fox News since rising to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Biden dropped out of the race in July amid mounting concerns over his mental acuity and age. During that interview, Harris cited Trump by name 23 times. 

"More than 70% of people tell the country is on the wrong track. They say the country is on the wrong track. If it's on the wrong track, that track follows three and a half years of you being vice president and President Biden being president. That is what they're saying, 79% of them. Why are they saying that?" Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier asked Harris during the interview. "If you're turning the page, you've been in office for three and a half years."

At another point, Baier asked Harris: "Your campaign slogan is a 'New way forward' and 'It's time to turn the page.' You've been vice president for three and a half years, so what are you turning the page from?" 

"Well, first of all, turning the page from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump that has been designed and implemented to divide our country and have Americans literally point fingers at each other. Rhetoric and an approach to leadership that suggests that the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down instead of what we all know, the strength of leadership is based on who you lift up," Harris responded.