After a series of hugely energetic rallies this week Kamala Harris seemed to hit her first bump on the road in Michigan on Wednesday, when protesters heckled her by chanting “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide.”
Harris paused her speech and the broader crowd tried to out-chant the protesters by shouting, “Kamala! Kamala!”. But Harris said repeatedly, “It’s all good.” As the crowd died down, Harris seemed to look in the direction of the protesters, and said, “I’m here because we believe in democracy. Everyone’s voice matters. But I am speaking now.”
When they continued to chant, she stopped again, and said, “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
The moment was reminiscent of a moment from her vice-presidential debate in 2020, when she told an interrupting Mike Pence, “Mr Vice-President, I’m speaking.”
Campaign staffers escorted the demonstrators out of the venue, according to NBC, and Harris continued her speech.
Before the rally, Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz met briefly with leaders from the Uncommitted movement. The protesters at the rally were not from Uncommitted, organisers told the Guardian. The group began by encouraging voters in the Democratic primaries to protest US support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 39,000 Palestinians. In a statement on Wednesday, the movement said that its co-founders, Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawieh, had spoken with Harris and Walz at the rally, and “presented their concerns about the US supplying weapons for Israel’s war and occupation against Palestinians”.
They requested a formal meeting to discuss an arms embargo, according to the release. Harris, they said, “shared her sympathies and expressed an openness” to the meeting.
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for confirmation of the account.
Biden won the primary in Michigan earlier this year, but more than 100,000 voters, or 13.3%, chose “uncommitted”. In the 2020 election, Biden won the state of Michigan by just 154,000 votes. Nationally, more than 700,000 Americans voted “uncommitted”, “uninstructed” or “no preference” in the primary.
According to the Uncommitted statement Elabed and Alawieh told Harris that they and the movement more broadly want to support her in her bid for the presidency.
Alawieh is a delegate to the Democratic national convention, which begins on 19 August. He said, according to the statement, “We want to support you, Vice-President Harris and our voters need to see you turn a new page on Gaza policy that includes embracing an arms embargo to save lives.”
It added that Elabed said, “I’m Palestinian, I’m a founder of Uncommitted. Michigan voters want to support you, but we need a policy that will save lives in Gaza right now. I meet with community members every day in Michigan who are losing tens and hundreds of family members in Gaza. Right now, we need an arms embargo.”
The pair thanked Walz, the governor of Minnesota, for acknowledging the movement in March. Uncommitted voters cast 19% of votes in Minnesota during the primary. Asked on CNN what message voters in his state were “trying to send to President Biden” and what he wanted to see Biden do in response, Walz said, “Yeah, look they’re engaged, we’re really proud of Minnesota. Civic responsibility has some of the highest voter turnouts. These are voters that are deeply concerned, as we all are. The situation in Gaza is intolerable.”
Earlier this week, Uncommitted requested that Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American physician who has worked in Gaza, speak at the Democratic convention about the humanitarian crisis that she witnessed first-hand. Uncommitted is sending 30 delegates to the convention.
This article was amended on 8 August 2024. Tim Walz is the governor of Minnesota, not Wisconsin. And the protesters who disrupted the rally were not from the Uncommitted campaign group, as an earlier version said.
