Kamala Harris says she’d take a cognitive test; challenges Trump “to take the same one”

Vice President Kamala Harris, responding to former President Donald Trump’s claims about her IQ, said she would take a cognitive test — and “would challenge him to take the same one.”

“This is what he has resorted to, and I think he actually is increasingly unstable and unhinged and has resorted to name calling because he actually has no plan for the American people,” Harris said in an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell conducted on the campaign trail in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

The vice president pointed to a slew of individuals who worked closely with Trump who have spoken out against him in recent weeks as evidence that he is “unfit to be president of the United States.”

“Don’t take it from me, listen to the people who know him best,” Harris said. “His former chiefs of staff. Most recently, 4-star Marine General John Kelly. Listen to two former secretaries of defense who worked for him, listen to his national security adviser, listen to his vice president, who have all, in one way or another, said he is unfit to be president again, should never be president again, and is dangerous.”

Harris has received criticism for her comments about Trump, including calling him a “fascist,” in recent days from top Republicans in Congress, who accused her of inviting another assassination attempt against the former president. The vice president told CBS News that she condemns “any political violence of any sort against anyone,” while noting that people should “take it from the people who know him best.”

With just over a week until Election Day, the vice president acknowledged a close presidential race, while touting that she has seen “a lot of enthusiasm” on the campaign trail.  

“It’s a presidential race. And it should be close,” she said. “In all honesty, I’m seeing a lot of enthusiasm around our campaign.”

A CBS News poll released Sunday found Harris and Trump tied across the battleground states, while Harris has a one-point lead nationally.

Harris said she intends to “earn every vote we receive,” traveling around the country on the campaign trail to do so. And she pointed to the support she’s seen on the ground. 

The campaign trail has been star-studded in recent days, as Harris appeared with Michelle Obama in Michigan on Saturday and Beyoncé a day prior in Texas. 

Harris outlined elements of her vision for the first 100 days should she be elected, pointing to legislation aimed at lowering costs and to safeguard reproductive rights as the top legislative priorities. 

On the effort to lower costs, Harris said the package of legislation would address housing, small business, the child tax credit, and put “more money in the hands of American working people,” while cutting taxes for the middle class. She said a priority “in equal form” would be addressing reproductive healthcare and reinstating protections. And she cited border security — bringing back the border deal that Senate Republicans rejected earlier this year — as another top priority.

Whether the priorities could pass, especially in a divided Congress, remains to be seen. But Harris argued that “for most of the issues that I think concern the vast majority of Americans, they’re not partisan issues.”

“Bringing down the cost of groceries. Bringing down the cost of housing,” she said. “Getting more support to families with children. These are not partisan issues. Democrats, Republicans, independents deal with these issues equally, and actually don’t think of them through the lens of the party with which they’re registered to vote. So that means working across the aisle.”