Vice President Kamala Harris was labeled a “war criminal” by a protester blowing a whistle on Wednesday, as her third campaign event in less than 24 hours was interrupted by anti-Israel activists.
During her afternoon rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Harris, 60, at one point admonished the activists opposed to Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, telling them, “Right now I am speaking!” as the event started to spiral out of control.
“We are six days out from an election. We are six days away from an election, and ours is about the fight for democracy and your right to be heard,” the veep said after a round of antiwar chants.
“Everyone has the right to be heard, but right now, I am speaking!” she said to raucous applause, repeating a phrase she has been using since her lone debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2020.
Shortly thereafter, another protester blew a whistle and then shouted: “You’re a war criminal!”
“We love our democracy. It can be complicated at times, but it’s the best system in the world,” Harris said in response.
During an earlier event in Raleigh, N.C., another man interrupted her, yelling, “Kamala Harris, you have disrespected the Palestinian community!”
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Frank Luntz, a pollster and communications expert, said on CNN Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s “garbage” comment about former President Donald Trump’s supporters would have a “huge” effect and could be the “turning point” that leads him to victory in the race.
On Tuesday, Biden said, “The only people I see floating out there with garbage are his supporters.”
Biden later said that he meant “supporter’s” instead of “supporters” and that he was only criticizing insult comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage” at Trump’s rally in New York City over the weekend.
However, the comments caused a fire that both Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris had to put out.
On Wednesday, CNN’s Brianna Keilar asked Luntz whether Biden’s gaffe would “move voters” toward Trump.
“It’s going to be huge because this is not some comedian saying something stupid and offensive at a rally where he should have been just basically disinvited. This is the president of the United States endorsing his vice president, saying something — and I know that there’s different interpretations about what he said — it’s still inappropriate. He still shouldn’t be doing it,” Luntz said.
“I’ve watched Trump already seize this. The ‘basket of deplorables’ was significant, was meaningful in 2016. In 2024, I can promise you that this is going to drive Trump turnout. And he’s doing it already. I can see — I’m sure there’s going to be ads on as soon as tonight about this,” he continued.
Luntz added, “This may be a turning point for those final 3% — and that’s all it is — who still need to be persuaded.”
Luntz went on to note that while “Trump offends” persuadable voters, who “don’t like him as a person,” “Harris scares them because they don’t know where she stands.”
Trump was talking about Hillary Clinton’s famous 2016 speech in which she called Trump’s supporters during his first run for office a “basket of deplorable.”
“Please forgive him for he knoweth not what he say. Honestly he doesn’t. And I’m convinced that he likes me more than he likes Kamala,” Trump said, referring to Biden’s declining mental abilities.
“No!” the crowd shouted back at Trump.