Vice President Kamala Harris has said she would be open to meeting with leaders of the No Bind movement, who have conveyed to her their demand for an arms embargo against Israel, raising concerns that she might consider an arms embargo against Israel.
According to a New York Times report, Harris met with co-founders of the National Uncommitted Movement ahead of Wednesday’s rally in Detroit, where she listened to stories of Michiganders whose families were killed in Gaza and expressed a willingness to meet with leaders who want an arms embargo.
The movement, inspired by the “Listen to Michigan Voices” movement that started in Dearborn, is protesting the Democratic candidate over the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza conflict, with many vowing not to support Harris unless she meets demands such as negotiating an immediate ceasefire and halting arms sales to Israel.
Comedian Michael Rapaport said Harris lost the vote to Israel: “I can’t support a party that supports these idiots.”
Vice President Kamala Harris. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The reports of his exchanges with the movement’s leaders sparked an immediate backlash from Israel supporters, who blasted the Democratic candidate for even accepting their demands.
“It’s always wrong to express a positive stance on an arms embargo, but saying it hours before a major Iranian attack on Israel is completely outrageous. The only right answer was ‘absolutely not,’ and one has to imagine she wouldn’t hesitate to implement that answer on other issues, such as banning abortion,” Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
Representatives for Harris then rushed to clarify the vice president’s position, insisting that the Democratic candidate would “always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself.”
“[Harris] “Harris has always been clear: she will always ensure that Israel can defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organizations,” Phil Gordon, Harris’ national security adviser, said in a post on X. “She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and uphold international humanitarian law.”
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Erica L. Green, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, also explained the paper’s report, noting that leaders of the group had asked to meet with Harris to discuss their demands.
“They said she wouldn’t comply with the arms embargo, but she wouldn’t agree to talks,” Greene said in the X post.
Harris’ campaign later released a separate statement, claiming that the vice president has “prioritized dialogue with Arab, Muslim and members of the Palestinian community regarding the war in Gaza.”
Vice President Kamala Harris. (Lee Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“In this brief outing, she reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with these communities. The Vice President has made clear that she will always work to ensure Israel can defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organizations,” the statement said. “The Vice President is focused on securing the ceasefire and hostage agreement currently being negotiated. As she stated, it is time to end this war – Israel will be safe, the hostages will be free, the suffering of Palestinian civilians will end, and the Palestinian people will be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom and self-determination.”
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The Harris campaign is walking a delicate tightrope in Michigan, a key battleground state that has been close in the past few elections. The administration’s anger over its Gaza policies, emanating from Dearborn, the city with the highest Muslim population per capita in the United States, could further complicate things with simultaneous moves that could cost Democrats thousands of votes that would normally go to them in a key battleground state.
Lexis Zeidan, a spokeswoman for the group Listen to Michigan, made the comments at a press conference held by the campaign on February 28, the day after the Michigan presidential primary in Dearborn, Michigan. (Mostafa Basim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
But Goldberg said that explanation didn’t go far enough, arguing that the campaign’s statement didn’t actually address whether Harris would consider a ban.
“She should be asked clearly, ‘Yes or no, would you ever consider an arms embargo on Israel?'” Goldberg said. “It’s notable that her clarification statement after the incident did not directly answer this question.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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