Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, fired back at pro-Palestinian protesters of Israel’s war in Gaza as they interrupted her speech during a Wednesday night campaign rally in Detroit.
“You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said with a long stare, drawing loud cheers from supporters in the crowd before chants of, “Not going back!”
Trump existing is the biggest gift the Democrats have ever gotten and they still lost an election to him. Their fundraising skyrockets if Trump is involved on the other side and they don’t have to do anything because they just keep yelling about the boogyman. It’s exactly how Republicans use the immigration issue and how Netenyahu uses Hamas.
If Kamala doesn’t want Trump to win, then she should probably do what the voters are asking of her. --Whatever that is. Not listening to the voters could make her the second person to ever lose a presidential campaign against Donald Trump which would make her utterly pathetic.
I think the whatever that is is the problem. What would be enough in the israeli situation?
She should probably check her polling data. If the majority of potential constituents are diehard Zionists then she should probably just shut up about the situation altogether. The threat of “BuT TrUmP” shouldn’t scare anybody nearly as much as it should scare her -if it should scare anyone at all.
but again what could she realistically say, that would not be an outright lie in relation to the position a us president will be in office, that would get their support. I mean should she just lie and figure she can deal with the repercussions next election if she wins?
Then she should say nothing. Politicians say nothing all of the time, this would have been a great opportunity for her to practice that.
again what would the reaction be. Kamala silent on palestinian suffering.
Them’s the breaks of a Democracy. If you don’t have the majority you protest and agitate and try to sway support, but she’s the one that risks swaying votes by providing a response. --Make no mistake, I don’t like her. I don’t support her, but if she’s smart and she want’s to win then she needs to try not to alienate any more voters than necessary.
Exactly she went with what she did. Does it alienate me. no. will it someone else yes. will anything she says around this subject alienate some. yes.
Since you’re such an expert, what campaign are you running?
No, I’m not an expert, nor am I running a campaign. I just read, and pay attention. What’s your excuse?
I’m not the one acting like I know how to run a presidential campaign.
Edit: Oh, lol, my bad, didn’t realize this was .ml
“Don’t protest our complicity in genocide or else you’ll lose democracy and freedom.”
There is a time and place for everything. When you are on the cusp of electing a president that will give Israel all the lea way and weapons to remove gaza from existence, maybe you should take it easy on the other candidate that will not do that.
The time and place is when we have fucking leverage.
You don’t though. You’re pretending desperately that you do, but you don’t .
Harris, presumably, wants to win. That gives us leverage.
Unless, of course, elections don’t matter and this is all just theater.
The uncommitted movement in Michigan, a battleground state, absolutely does. This is the time
It was this leverage and pressure that pushed biden to not run
This pressure should be kept up as long as genocide is occurring. You cannot have freedom and peace for you but not someone else, especially if you are in a country that forments and causes most wars in the world
If the anti-genocide vote has no leverage then why did Kamala say that?
Wait for next season, MLK
How do you know Kamala won’t do that? What signal has she given that her policy will be different from Biden’s?
Her national security advisor tweeted this today:
Translation: “We’re going to continue Biden’s ineffectual policy of begging Israel to please be nice as they’re dropping the bombs we keep sending them.”
No promises, but worst case scenario is incomprehensibly better than trump.
No go ahead and protest the Dems and see what happens. I’m sure Trump and the GOP will listen to your pleas /s
If neither side is on yours, then it’s not an election issue. Stop trying to make it one.
You’re basically arguing that lobbying doesn’t work. Lobbying by citizens can, in fact, work, and lobbying a Democrat on a human rights issue is more likely to work than lobbying a Republican. Of course, Kamala can ignore you (or tell you to shut up, like here), but she’s at risk of losing votes.
Telling protesters that they’re helping Trump win is incredibly tone-deaf, and the influence of Biden is showing. This is something that Biden would say to protesters.
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They’ve pinned their hopes on her, because who else can they turn to? If your priority is campaigning for an end to the genocide, then of course you’d say that.
Sadly, her national security advisor just tweeted this today, so I’d say those of us who predicted Harris would just take Biden’s policy and give it a more sympathetic face are already looking to be proven correct:
Womp womp
Can’t say that I’m surprised, just disappointed.
looks like i’ll be voting for stein or west after all.
She literally implied Jewish Americans protesting in DC were associates of Hamas and further implied they’re Anti-Semites. This was just two weeks ago when Netanyahu was at the Capitol giving a speech to his clapping seals (a record number of standing ovations for genocide). What the fuck are you on about?
Mind you, we are talking about Kamala’s statements. Not a random group’s that nobody’s ever heard of.
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It’d be nice to hear it from her own mouth. Also, telling protestors to shut up like that is a bad look.
This has nothing to do with religion. The genocide is targeting Palestinians, not Muslims. Christian and atheist Palestinians are being murdered, kidnapped, and tortured the same as all Palestinians.
Neither did the text I had in bold you numpty. Let me know when you put down the goalposts again and we’ll have another kick
Holy fuck it’s like everyone commenting on this post simply refuses to understand the deeply dismaying and unfortunate - but very real - amount of influence AIPAC has on the entirety of the US political system.
I agree that it’s stupid and bad. But not admitting that hat it’s a real influence that has the potential to, you know, help the fucking fascists win is absolutely, categorically idiotic.
“We have to let Israel do genocide or they’ll install fascism in the US.”
Uh.
Because the genocide the fascists allow will be so much kinder and gentler
Your thesis is that Israel is so powerful that they can do genocide with impunity and no one on Earth can stop them; if the US ever went soft on support for Israel it could install whoever they want as the president, ushering in an age of fascism in the US.
You actually believe all that?
“This is what Democrats actually believe.”
I’m calling bullshit. Bernie Sanders and Rashida Tlaib have both spoken out against the genocide, and yet both of them are still in office. Hell, Tlaib held up a sign that read “war criminal” during Netanyahu’s speech before congress!
Kamala and Walz are superstars right now. Yet, we’re supposed to believe that if she opposed Israel, the almighty AIPAC would dump a bunch of money into Trump’s campaign and get him elected? Money is a huge factor in politics, but simply injecting more money doesn’t cause somebody to win or lose.
AIPAC aren’t gods, and the idea that they are is actually oddly antisemitic. It’s like saying “We can’t piss off Israel, because they control who wins or loses the election.” This is batshit conspiracy theory territory.
Kamala has already shown that she isn’t afraid of Trump. She needs to show that she isn’t afraid of Israel, either. That is, if she’s serous about ending the genocide.
This is moronic. One crisis at a time.
Trump will be worse, this is a fact. He will create dozens of crisis overnight, and he will also worsen the genocide by magnitudes.
AIPAC isn’t an unstoppable juggernaut that can just install whatever president they want.
I feel like AIPAC is just a way for US politicians to get a higher salary. The feds give Israel money and an Israeli government associated agency gives politicians money directly.
They don’t want him to win, they want to push her on this issue.
This is a disastrously bad idea. So bad I imagine her enemies are plotting and funding it.
Netanyahu himself could be doing this shit. He 100% wants Trump in power. Trump would support and help him destroy every last Palestinian in the name of protecting Israel.
If Kamala really needs the anti-genocide vote, she should convince old Joe to start sanctioning Israel now.
Netanyahu does not mind whether Trump or Kamala wins if Kamala continues supporting the Genocide.
I wish she’d try triangulating instead. Maybe champion the idea of enforcing globally agreed upon rules and connect that to taking on the “Trumps of other nations”
Genocide will continue as schedule.
Only fools argue in ultimatums
Dumb. Acting like the good cop to Trump’s bad cop routine is turning tons of people off. “You’d better cooperate with me now or I’ll have to bring my associate in here, and he won’t be so nice!”
Supposedly Harris told a representative of the uncommitted voting bloc from the Dem primaries that she was down to meet to discuss an arms embargo on Israel, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. She needs to be more forthright about her stance, because the subtextual indications of being flexible on this and her hypothetical empathy for Palestinians I keep hearing about (but not really seeing in any meaningful way) are not cutting it anymore.
Wow, she’s really bad at this while campaigning thing. Why not actually address the demands of her constituency?
Is it too hard to say 'I will stop supporting a country that is committing a genocide"?
It’ll lose her votes and give Trump leverage. Welcome to politics.
So she decides to do openly tell people worried about an issue to shove it, which will lose her votes and give Trump leverage.
Not a master strategy.
it smells like shit in here
That’s it! Any Arab or Muslim who votes for her is neither an Arab nor a Muslim. To hell with this vile woman!
Arab or Muslim Americans who believe that an AIPAC backed candidate will reign in on Israel and its genocide in Gaza are not only naive but also delusional
Vote 3rd party or stay home. Those are the only two options
Common, everyone knows she is an establishment politician, pushed by hundreds of millions of Israeli money and the military industrial complex. she has no empathy to the tens of thousands of children being bombed in Gaza with American money and American made bombs.
Brat girl Summer, woo!
Well, Mrs. Vice President, if you don’t want my vote in November, then say that.
The solution cannot be “don’t vote and let the other guys win” tho right? Kamala could have responded so much better, but that means we roll over?
I just can’t get behind this take. It’s like the religious people who actively seek out the end of the world so they can all be raptured.
The solution cannot be “don’t vote and let the other guys win” tho right?
It isn’t. Keep trying. If she keeps refusing, vote for an anti-genocide candidate like Jill Stein.
Oh I’m sorry,
*The solution cannot be “vote for someone who has no chance and let the other guys win” tho right?
Seriously who the hell is Jill Stein? I bet if you asked most Americans they would have no clue. Can we have an ounce of realism here? We’re 3 months out from this election and finally got someone who is competitive with Trump. Jill Stein is not winning.
Seriously who the hell is Jill Stein? I bet if you asked most Americans they would have no clue.
The lack of research skills of other voters is not my responsibility. My responsibility is to vote for the best candidate.
We’re 3 months out from this election and finally got someone who is competitive with Trump.
Then maybe she should try to keep that competitive edge by fucking listening when people are protesting a genocide! Genocide is wrong. If you have the power to end a genocide, you should do so. This is not rocket surgery.
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I don’t believe Trump will be worse, he will be the same but less polite about it. An honest genocider is better than a lying genocider.
After 10 months of the Democratic Party enabling a genocide and lying about it, an honest genocider would be an improvement honestly. Liberals might actually stop apologizing for it.
If people don’t know your name as a candidate, then it’s your own fault. Third parties have been completely unable to run an effective campaign. You can’t blame the voters for that.
I’ll agree with you on your last point. While I think Kamala can be pushed in the right direction, her response here was a huge misstep. It’s insane to me that this wasn’t even prepared for.
you’re trying to reason with a troll.
I don’t think you mean to say a movement that wants to end genocide is like those who seek the end of the world…
We can make comparisons to the behaviors of those within two different groups without comparing the goals of those groups. Ultimately they’re both self destructive and not going to accomplish their goals.
And because it has to be said, of course I’m against the genocide. I do not think the person I responded to (and others like them) will ultimately be effective in ending it
I don’t see how the uncommitted movement is self-destructive; they’re the ones of families actively being destroyed from the outside. It’s like we’re asking them for solidarity in response to them asking for some to begin with. In that sense, their behavior is understandable and very much unlike the religious fanatics who support Zionism as a means to the second coming. Those people aren’t begging for their families to be saved.
The solution cannot be “don’t vote and let the other guys win” tho right?
That is the risk the Kamala campaign is apparently willing to take.
We’re talking about your personal actions, but yeah go off king. Take no responsibility, your actions mean nothing
This genocide is our responsibility, because our tax dollars are paying for it. Our politicians are supporting it.
Correct. I was saying the person I responded to was not taking responsibility.
Kamala Harris has no one to blame but herself for supporting a genocide
My theory is that religious people want that, so they get into heaven without dying first. They are just afraid of dying.
Regardless of what people do, either vote or not vote, a Democrat or Republican will be President next term. The only choice people have is if they want to affect which one it will be.
Is the argument that both parties will be the same? Is US support of Israel the only issue to consider?
My point is vote Democrat
I mean…Do you want trump to win?
Does she?
You’re assuming her completely condemning Isreal would help her win the election but I don’t think it’s as simple as that. There’s still a massive voting block of hard core Isreal supporters in the US.
Genocide is wrong. You have to oppose genocide. It is as simple as that.
“Oh, no! I can’t stop the genocide, even though I have all the power to do that! It’ll cost me votes!” Well, it’s also going to cost you votes if you don’t do that, so I guess we’ll see in November.
Is this massive voting block of hard core Isreal supporters who aren’t just voting for Trump anyway in the room with us right now?
No, they’re in Missouri voting out Cori Bush, and in New York voting out Bowman. But I guess if you just want to ignore the very real evidence we have, sure, there’s literally no Democrats supporting Israel.
You might recall that those were primary elections and AIPAC ran ads attacking Bush and Bowman for anything and everything. Unless they think Kamala is actually “stronger” on Israel, they’re just going to support Trump in the general election anyway. Maybe her campaign thinks AIPAC can be appeased, but it still comes down to the apparent decision that they don’t need anti-genocide votes. Shrimp and grits!
Nobody wants Trump to win. Kamala doesn’t want Trump to win. Which is why this reaction is so dismaying. It’s her actions that are helping Trump to win, not the protesters’.
No. That’s why I’m frustrated with Kamala for alienating anti-genocide voters so far.
Sure, but who are you voting for? Or don’t you take any responsibility for your own actions like so many others who blame her for their vote?
I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m not running in the election. I only have one mathematically insignificant vote to cast. Meanwhile, the Kamala campaign can actually affect the outcome of the election by taking positions that attract or repel millions of votes.
poor baby. can’t have what you want, so, you’ll just doom palestine because, <pouts>
go cry
Yes, it’s me who’s dooming Palestine, some guy in New Jersey, not the feral apartheid state that’s decimating Gaza or any of the countries providing weapons and financing for them to do so.
again, any universe, where trump triumphs is a death-knell to a two state solution or any humane consideration for Gaza. So think.
what are you doing?
You must not have heard about the trolley problem. I’m sure if I logically explain why you should ignore the deaths of your family members you would go vote. /s
There is no room for these things to be a topic of conversation if Trump wins. This way of thinking has no path to resolving the problem.
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Same excuse every four years.
That assumes that things haven’t changed, and that Trump doesn’t represent the backlash to that change. The Dems don’t change things as fast as you would like, but why is back pedaling better than that? I swear, this whole line of reasoning sounds like some astroturfing movement to get liberals to skip the election. The republicans only win when voter counts are low. You are talking like you want Trump to win.
this whole line of reasoning sounds like some astroturfing movement to get liberals to skip the election.
I’m not skipping the election. I’m voting for the candidate who is standing against the genocide, Jill Stein.
Dems need to learn kicking the can down the road doesn’t work when scientists say the road ends in like 40 years unless we change big things.
Are we still talking about the genocide?
iF yOu WaNt DoNaLd TrUmP tO wIn
