Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris expressed agreement with an anti-Israel protester who accused Israel of genocide at a closed-door campaign event from which journalists were barred.
The exchange was caught on video Thursday at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, according to Fox News. The protester, who was wearing a keffiyeh, interrupted Harris’s talk to a group of students. While his initial comment was not seen on the video, Harris’s response was.
"I know what you're speaking of. I want a cease-fire. I want the hostage deal done. I want the war to end," Harris said.
"But what about the genocide? What about the genocide though?" the protester yelled back.
"I respect your right to speak, but I'm speaking right now," Harris said to cheers from much of the crowd. As the protester was removed from the room, he spoke up again: "How about the billions of dollars to Israel?" he shouted. "What about the 19,000 children dead, and you won't call it a genocide?"
After he was removed from the room, Harris addressed the audience and seemed to agree with his claim about Israel: "Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real," she said. "That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real, and I respect his voice."
David Friedman, who was U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Donald Trump administration, fired back Saturday, telling the New York Post that “Kamala Harris just publicly validated the false and vicious accusation that Israel is engaging in genocide.”
“Many, including myself, always suspected that she held this warped, antisemitic view of Israel’s self-defense against Hamas barbarism. But the cat is now out of the bag,” he added.
“Her view is as ignorant as it is malign. … To give credence publicly to this disgusting blood libel disqualifies Harris from holding any public office, let alone the presidency,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign pushed back, saying “That is not the view of the Biden-Harris Administration or the Vice President.”
