Vice President Kamala Harris quadrupled down on her and President Joe Biden’s policies regarding the Israel-Hamas war on Tuesday, despite blowback from the progressive wing of her party.
During an interview with several reporters at the National Association of Black Journalists, Harris was asked by Politico’s Eugene Daniels if she would implement a policy change in United States aid to Israel if she were president.
“But what I often hear from folks is that there’s no policy change that… either you or the President, President Biden, have gone and said they would do. Is there a specific policy change, as President, that you would do in our helping of Israel,” he asked.
Harris deflected.
“We need to get this deal done, and we need to get it done immediately. And that is my position, and that is my policy. We need to get this deal done,” she said without specifics.
“But in the way that we send weapons, in the way that we interact as their ally, are there specific policy changes?” Daniels followed up.
Harris then pointed to the pause in arms shipments that President Joe Biden had put in place on 2,000 bombs being sent to Israel.
“Eugene, for example, one of the things that we have done that I am supportive of is the pause that we’ve put on the 2000 pound bonds. And so there is some leverage that we have had and used,” she said.
This is significant, considering Harris received immense blowback from the progressive left after her interview with CNN’s Dana Bash. Harris dodged Bash’s initial question about withholding “some” arms from Israel and then said “no” when asked about a “change in arms policy and so forth” for the second time.
The next day, Ryan Grim, the co-host of Counter Points and editor of Drop Site News, guest co-hosted the populist alternative media show Breaking Points alongside regular host Krystal Ball and zoned on the framing of “some” in Bash’s question.
“The Biden administration has even said they would restrict ‘some’ weapons, like the 2,000-pound bombs used for offensive purposes,” Grim said.
“People keep saying that Harris is better rhetorically and more empathetic. Where’s the empathy there, when you’re actually not even standing by the tiniest of concessions that the Biden administration, her administration has made?” he asked.
In her answer on Tuesday, Harris added that she had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Arab leaders in the region about the need for a deal.
“I’m not going to disclose private conversations, but I will tell you I’ve had direct conversations with the Prime Minister, with the president of Israel, with Egyptian leaders, and with our allies, and I think we’ve made ourselves very clear this deal needs to get done in the best interest of everyone in the region,” she added.
While Harris doubled down on the Biden-Harris policies in the Bash interview, she tripled down on them during the debate with former President Donald Trump last week.
Meanwhile, the left’s “uncommitted” movement, which began in the Democrat primary to protest the administration’s handling of the war, has persisted despite Harris becoming the nominee. More than half a million Democrats in the primary voted for a variation of “uncommitted” around the country and by an alarming margin for Democrats in key swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin.
These voters have demanded a cease-fire and a change in arms policy and are threatening to stay home in November.
