There were a lot of things bandied about during the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump during the debate. So much so, that it can be hard to keep track of everything, much less what was true versus what wasn’t. However, one claim in particular staunchly stood out: that Harris “hates Arab people.” Was it based in any truth?
One of the biggest issues of this election cycle is the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East. There’s been tons of pressure from inside the Democratic party to push for a unilateral ceasefire, and Kamala herself was lambasted during the Democratic National Convention with protesters outside the venue calling her “Killer Kamala.”
During the debate, Trumps said clearly that Harris “hates Israel” and that she “wouldn’t even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech.” He added that “she hates the Arab population” and that the “whole place is going to get blown up, Arabs, Jewish people. Israel will be gone.”
The reason she skipped the speech, Trump said, was because “she was at a sorority party.” The speech in question happened on July 24, and Harris was indeed not in attendance. So where was she?
Harris was in Indianapolis at the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. national convention, an engagement she had already scheduled before Netanyahu announced his speech, per the Indy Star. Zeta Phi Beta is the largest Black Greek-lettered sorority in the country and the event pulls in about 6,000 people annually. The purpose of the convention is to prioritize community service.
In addition, she met with Netanyahu following the speech. What about her middle east policy? Doers she “hate” Arabs as Trump is accusing? The thing is she hasn’t really shown much in terms of a policy either way.
She has slightly differed from Joe Biden in her approach to Israel. In that meeting with Netanyahu in July, she chastised Netanyahu more publicly than Biden ever has.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris said after her meeting. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish and has said that his wife “has been, and will be, a strong supporter of Israel as a secure, democratic and Jewish state. And she will always ensure that Israel can defend itself, period.”
Many U.S. officials in the Biden administration have said they don’t expect her to stray too far from the status quo. Aaron David Miller, who used to negotiate in the Middle East for both Democratic and Republican administrations, said that while she may be more “energetic” in her approach to the region, he doesn’t expect any big changes policy-wise.
Basically, there isn’t really any evidence of a Harris “hate” policy in the Middle East. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much of a policy at all. As we get closer to the election, that’s probably going to change.