Vice President Kamala Harris did not answer a question on Thursday about whether she would be more pro-Israel than former President Donald Trump.
At a CNN town hall in a suburb of Philadelphia, Harris was asked multiple questions related to the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization. The first question related to the use of American arms in Gaza.
“So I will say, and I think this is to your point, far too many innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed. It’s unconscionable," Harris responded. “And we are now at a place where, with Sinwar’s death, I do believe we have an opportunity to end this war, bring the hostages home, bring relief to the Palestinian people, and work toward a two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinians in equal measure have security, where the Palestinian people have dignity, self-determination, and the safety they so rightly deserve.”
CNN host Anderson Cooper then asked Harris what she would say to those undecided voters who may not vote or vote for third-party candidates due to the Biden Administration's perceived support for Israel.
“Listen, I am not going to deny the strong feelings that people have. I don’t know anyone who has seen the images who would not have strong feelings about what has happened, much less those who have relatives who have died and been killed,” Harris said, adding that there are many people who care about many issues and not just the war in Gaza.
Cooper also asked Harris if she would be more pro-Israel than Donald Trump. Instead of answering the question, Harris spoke of the potential dangers of another Trump presidency and accused the former president of admiring dictators such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I believe that Donald Trump is dangerous,” Harris said. “And if the president of the United States, the commander in chief, is saying to his generals, in essence, why can’t you be more like Hitler’s generals? This is a serious, serious issue, and we know who he is.”
During the town hall, a woman wearing a yellow pin representing the 101 hostages who have been held in Gaza for over a year, asked Harris about the wave of antisemitism that has spread throughout the US in response to the October 7 massacre last year and what Harris would do to protect Jewish citizens.
“I will say that we have seen a rise in antisemitism,” Harris responded. “It is something that we have to be honest about and we have to deal with. Part of what we’ve got to do is talk with people so that they understand, what are the tropes, what are the roots of what we are seeing?”
She said that laws would need to be enacted to ensure there is a “serious consequence” to committing antisemitic hate crimes.