US presidential candidate Kamala Harris appeared to claim that Israel is committing genocide, calling it "real" during a talk in Milwaukee on Thursday.
In the videos circulated on social media on Saturday evening, Kamala Harris can be seen addressing a group of students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before being interrupted by a student who asks her to speak about "the genocide" in Gaza.
Harris tells the students she is "so invested" in them before being interrupted by the student who says, "And in genocide, right? Billions of dollars in genocide you invested in?"
In response, Harris said she respected the student's right to speak.
WATCH — Vice President Harris in response to a heckler screaming that Israel is committing "genocide"“Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. It’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real and I respect his voice”(Watch videos from left to… pic.twitter.com/tZwmVIWYsk
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) October 19, 2024
"I respect your right to speak. I'm speaking right now, I know what you're speaking of. I want the ceasefire. I want the war to end."
The male student, who is wearing a keffiyeh, continues to ask her about the genocide while pushing through the crowd towards Harris.
Harris then gestures to the student as he is escorted out of the room by security and says to the crowd, "Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. It’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real, and I respect his voice."
UWM Police removed the heckler, who was cited for disorderly conduct, according to a university spokesperson.
'Gives credence to blood libel'
Former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman told the New York Post that Harris had just "publicly validated the false and vicious accusation that Israel is engaging in genocide.”
“Many, including myself, always suspected that she held this warped, antisemitic view of Israel’s self-defense against Hamas barbarism. But the cat is now out of the bag,” he said to the US outlet on Saturday.
“Her view is as ignorant as it is malign. … To give credence publicly to this disgusting blood libel disqualifies Harris from holding any public office, let alone the presidency,” he added.
The heckler was seemingly affiliated with the group UW-Milwaukee Popular University for Palestine Coalition, which posted a video on their Instagram, joint with National SJP.
Alongside the video, the group wrote that they had staged a massive student protest of Harris's talk at four locations outside the hall, and that a student had interrupted the talk.
"When exiting the event, her motorcade was forced to pass right by all of the protesters," the statement added.
This was corroborated by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which said that Harris's motorcade drove past pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus before she arrived at the meeting at Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, which journalists were not allowed to attend.
According to social media reports, some of the pro-Palestine protesters outside the event refused to move away and lay on the ground.