Vice President Kamala Harris appeared briefly rattled after she was heckled by an anti-Israel protester at a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday — even as the crowd turned to boos to drown out the critic.
Harris, 60, had begun speaking after former first lady Michelle Obama’s withering attack on her rival and was riffing on the stakes of the election when she got interrupted.
“We are fighting for America’s future, and we understand the opportunity we have before us to turn the page on the fear—” Harris said, as she got cut off.
“No more Gaza war!” a man in the crowd was heard yelling repeatedly.
Harris stopped her speech as the protester shouted her down — and then looked behind her as rally-goers erupted into a shower of boos against the heckler.
Soon, her supporters began countering with chants of “Kamala.”
“‘On the topic of Gaza, we must end that war,” Harris replied after a brief pause during the commotion.
Outside where her rally took place Saturday, a handful of anti-Israel demonstrators marched and chanted against the vice president.
Michigan has one of the largest Arab-American populations in the US and Democratic operatives have long been anxious about the political ramifications of the Israel-Hamas war on the 2024 election there.
The Wolverine State saw over 100,000 Democratic primary voters mark themselves as “uncommitted” in a dramatic protest against President Biden earlier this year.
Former President Donald Trump has a razor-thin 0.2 percentage point edge in Michigan, per the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate. Michigan has 15 Electoral College votes.
Recently, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat, confirmed that he won’t back either candidate in the presidential election. Dearborn is the only city in the US that is majority Arab.
Hours prior to the rally, Israel fired off a barrage of strikes against some 20 targets in Iran as retaliation against Tehran’s bombardment of just under 200 missiles earlier this month.
Israel had long vowed to carry out a reprisal and Biden reportedly worked behind the scenes to discourage the key US ally from carrying out a more aggressive response.
Saturday was Harris’ first joint appearance with Michelle Obama on the campaign trail this cycle, who bemoaned the tight nature of the race.
“I hope that you will forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse — all of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do, y’all,” Michelle Obama lamented during her speech.
Famous for her aphorism in 2016, “When they go low, we go high,” the former first lady has since opted for fierce lines of attack against Trump, 78, and some of his allies.
During her remarks, she briefly seemed to allude to concerns about sexism harming Harris’ political standing and urged men to support women when it comes to issues like abortion.
“I am asking you all, from the core of my being, to take our lives seriously,” she said.
The vice president has been leaning on a roster of celebrities and Democratic stars over recent days in a bid to help boost her campaign, including Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Barack Obama.
She was also heckled during her rally in Houston, Texas, which featured Beyoncé, by multiple individuals who appeared to be Trump supporters.
“You know what, the beauty of our campaign is we’re fighting for democracy,” Harris replied at the time as the hecklers were escorted away.