The reality set in for Vice President Kamala Harris this week after reports that Trump spoke fondly of dictators and pined for Adolf Hitler’s generals didn’t penetrate the news cycle.

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“It is deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans,” Harris said during a hastily scheduled speech outside her official residence. “All of this is further evidence for the American people of who Donald Trump really is.”

That came after former Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly told the New York Times that Trump met his definition of a fascist and wanted to govern like a dictator, and The Atlantic reported that Trump wants “the kind of generals that Hitler had.”

“The bottom line is this: We know what Donald Trump wants,” Harris concluded, making one of her final pitches with less than two weeks to go before election day, “He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be, what do the American people want?”

But the dark, fearful messaging could fall flat as voters have heard similar claims before, dating at least to Trump’s first run for president in 2016.

Craig Shirley, a presidential historian and Ronald Reagan biographer, argues that voters are more interested in issues than candidates and predicts they will tune it out.

“They’ve heard it all before, and that’s why it won’t resonate,” he said. “In desperate times people don’t vote on personality, they vote their own self-interest. Right now, the economy sucks, people are scared of inflation and war, crime, the border crisis. This all serves to help Donald Trump.”

The Harris campaign expended much energy into boosting the Kelly claims on Wednesday. It held a morning press call with two retired veterans who said they voted Republican until Trump came along, followed by Harris’s statement. The White House chimed in, too, saying that President Joe Biden thinks Trump is a fascist.

Former Wyoming GOP Rep. and Harris campaign surrogate Liz Cheney posted on X, “If your response to Gen. John Kelly, gold star father & Trump’s WH chief of staff, confirming that Trump praised Hitler & called members of our military ‘suckers and losers’ is to defend Trump, you need to look in the mirror and realize your dishonor will live forever.”

Harris’s running mate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) added, “Donald Trump said ‘I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.’ As a 24-year veteran of our military, that makes me sick as hell, and it should make you sick.”

The Trump campaign fiercely denies the accusations.

“John Kelly has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated because he failed to serve his president well while working as chief of staff and currently suffers from a debilitating case of Trump derangement syndrome,” Trump Spokesman Steven Cheung said, “President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women, whereas Kamala Harris has completely disrespected the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including the Abbey Gate 13.”

The Trump team also pointed to numerous statements from former officials and people he’d interacted with denying the allegations.

But the big question is whether the push makes a difference with the electorate so close to the deadline.

Democrats have been making comparisons between Trump and Hitler for years, drawing sharp rebukes from Republicans. Biden was comparing Trump to Hitler last year, and a left-leaning magazine put a Hitlerized version of Trump’s face on its cover this summer.

Republicans have been incensed, saying the attacks are both desperate and dangerous.

“Their closing message is all about Trump and Hitler (all recycled),” conservative commentator Megyn Kelly wrote. “Can you imagine how alarming their internal polls are?”

Firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene had a more serious take, saying the claims were reckless coming on the heels of two assassination attempts against Trump.

“Kamala Harris just compared him to Hitler,” she posted. “She is going to get him killed.”

The new push comes as polling momentum continues to favor Trump and as the Republican candidate seems to be enjoying himself on the trail.

Trump and Harris have both been working to cast the other as unfit to serve in the White House, turning to bitter personal attacks, with the race believed to be extremely close and few votes remaining up for grabs.