Vice President Kamala Harris told left-wing The Nation magazine that she applauds the “emotion” behind anti-Israel protests on campus — even as the government revealed that Iran provides funding for the demonstrations.
In an interview Monday with Joan Walsh, Harris said that the protests — which have disrupted life on campuses and in major cities, and which have targeted Jews — are displaying the correct “emotion” with regard to the ongoing war in Gaza:
The young people who have mobilized against the destruction of Gaza are unlikely to be mollified by these answers. What does she say to them?
“They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza. There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it.”
Fox News notes that in the full interview, Harris also expresses concern for the supposed lack of food in Gaza, because “I like to cook.” (The United Nations recently found that there is in fact no famine in Gaza, despite anti-Israel claims.)
While Harris lauds the “emotion” behind the protests, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines revealed Tuesday that the Iranian regime is providing funding to some of the demonstrations, to influence American politics:
In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.
I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza – this intelligence does not indicate otherwise. Moreover, the freedom to express diverse views, when done peacefully, is essential to our democracy, but it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes.
Furthermore, Americans who are being targeted by this Iranian campaign may not be aware that they are interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government. We urge all Americans to remain vigilant as they engage online with accounts and actors they do not personally know.
The Department of Justice, including the Civil Rights Division, has thus far been silent about the ongoing wave of antisemitism, and has shown little interest in investigating national anti-Israel groups or their sources of funding.
Harris is considered a possible replacement for President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic Party ticket if he bows out of the presidential race, following a poor debate last month and plummeting opinion poll figures.
Her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, is credited with crafting the White House “strategy” to fight antisemitism — together with antisemitic groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.