LOS ANGELES.–Speaking out on alleged civilian deaths in Gaza, 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris like to ingratiate herself to her party’s left wing led by 34-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y., who’s squad includes Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), 49-year-old Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and 47-year-old Cori Bush (D-Mo.), all critical of Israel, largely because anti-Semitism swirling in the Black and Latin communities. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Southern Israel, Harris has walked a razor’s edge placating he Squad, and at the same time, staying in line with the White House. President Joe Biden, 81, whose national average approval rating is below 40%, also plays with his party’s left wing, supporting Israel’s right to self-defense but not pushing back to strongly during an Election Year. Harris also panders to her party’s liberal base.
Harris’s national approval ratings have hovered at 36%, something that hurts her chances to run for president in the event Biden drops out. Former President Barack Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod sees Biden and Harris low approval rating as a red flag running against former President Donald Trump in 2024. Axelrod raised questions about Biden’s age, how national polls show the vast majority of voters would like a younger candidate. When it comes to Harris, she’s tried to make a name for herself after nearly three years in office but find voters not impressed with her work as Vice President. Since the Israel-Hamas war, Harris has fended off criticism from the Squad and others that parrot back the fake stats giving by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, claiming over 18,000 civilian casualties. Hamas refuses to offer any proof of casualties because there isn’t any.
So, occasionally Harris makes incendiary statements about Gazan civilian casualties responding to Democrats’ criticism of Israel war policy. When Harris hazards her own views, she runs afoul with the White House that’s played a delicate balancing act with backing Israel’s war with Hama and, at the same time, placating U.S. condemnation of Gaza’s civilian hardships. White House officials find it difficult to discuss who’s going to run the Gaza Strip when Israel gets rid of Hamas. Hamas’ military wing Qassam Brigades continue to put up resistance to Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] in Gaza, knowing the Gaza Strip was seized in 2007 by Hamas from the Ramallh-based Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Harris finds herself making statements to placate her party’s left wing, while, at the same time, staying on the same page as Biden and his national security team.
National Security Adivser Jake Sullivan, 45, met today with 88-year-old Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, hoping to fashion a post-Hamas plan in Gaza. White House officials have no real plan what to do in a post-Hamas Gaza, largely because Abbas and the Palestinian Authority is too weak to manage the Gaza Strip. Abbas has a 20% approval rating in the West Bank, largely because he has a tenuous grip on power. West Bank residents have more confidence in Hamas than they do with the PA. Yet most Gaza residents, while living under strict Hamas rule, can’t really give their true opinions without risking their lives. Harris’s office wants Biden to show more sensitivity to the plight of Gazans living in a war zone, displaced from their homes, living in dangerous conditions. Harris’s staff says there’s no daylight on the Israeli-Hamas war with the White House.
Harris visited the U.N.’s COP28 Climate summit in Dubai, hearing plenty from Arab leaders about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. When Kamala came out those meeting, she appeared sympathetic to Palestinians suffering in Gaza. “Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating,” Harris said during her visit to Dubai. Much of the U.S. press inferred there were differences between Harris and Biden on the war. “As I told Politico a week ago, ‘there is no daylight between the President and Vice President nor has there been,’ and media should be cautious and discerning about including anonymous ‘sources’ who are not privy to their private conversations,” said Kristen Allen, Harris’s press secretary. Harris has been largely kept out of the White House foreign policy loop.
Biden and Harris are subjected to distorted reporting by the U.S. and foreign press, largely sympathetic to suffering of Palestinians caught in the crossfire of Israeli and Hamas. Whether or not Israel can get rid of Hamas remains unknown. Biden has a big challenge on his hands figuring out an alternative to Hamas rule. Biden agrees that Israel cannot live with an implacable enemy on its border, ready to repeat the Oct. 7 atrocities. No one knows that extent of Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza because Hamas cannot be trusted to report accurately, only continue its propaganda war with Israel. Letting Israel continue to prosecute its war with Hamas tells the real story to Biden’s position on the war. He has concluded that Israel cannot live with Hamas in control of Gaza or any part of the Palestinian people. Biden certainly doesn’t want to appear at odds with his VP.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
