LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Kamala Harris couldn’t stand the screaming protesters at a Democratic fundraiser in Detroit on Saturday night and sternly told them it was the vice president’s turn to speak.
The vice president, speaking at the Michigan Democratic Party Legacy Dinner, where tickets start at $200, began his speech with an intent to ease tensions by directly addressing the bloodshed in Gaza.
It had the opposite effect.
As Harris spoke, the audience erupted in screams. A woman repeatedly screams“That’s genocide!”
Harris paused her speech to address the heckler. “For the last eight months, President Biden and I have worked every day to resolve this conflict, and now I’m speaking. I appreciate and respect your voices, but I’m speaking now,” she said as security escorted the woman out of the room.
But Harris appears to have gotten the message.
“It’s time to end this war,” she said on a microphone, employing similar phrasing to that which Biden has used frequently in recent weeks.
The words seemed to calm the crowd, allowing Harris to go ahead with her speech, but the moment posed a significant test of confidence not just for the vice president but also for her boss.
Michigan has a large Arab American population, especially in Detroit and its suburbs.
More than 300,000 Arab residents call the province home, including several thousand from Gaza.
The war between America’s ally Israel and the terrorist forces of Hamas is not theoretical to them.
They are U.S. citizens, but have parents, friends and relatives on the front lines.
They are for the most part fearful, angry, educated and motivated.
And they can vote.
Harris was able to complete the speech this weekend without incident.
But with tensions remaining high amid the escalating war, calming the upcoming Biden-Harris summit in Michigan may not be so easy.
