Commentary

Kamala Harris’ stern words for hecklers show she’s just who the Democrats need

"If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that," she told hecklers. They needed to hear it.
Commentary by · Updated on August 10, 2024
U.S. Vice President and democratic candidate for U.S. president Kamala Harris is joined on stage with her chosen running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during a campaign stop in Detroit on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024.
U.S. Vice President and democratic candidate for U.S. president Kamala Harris is joined on stage with her chosen running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during a campaign stop in Detroit on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Photo: Mandi Wright / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kamala Harris has grounded her campaign in joy and positive vibes, and she just showed this week that she’ll take on the moral purism common to the left side of the political spectrum and stand her ground as a pragmatic optimist.

This past Wednesday at a rally in Detroit, Harris was heckled by protestors who chanted: “Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide.” They were referring to Israel’s war in Gaza.

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Mind, Harris met with the cofounders of the Uncommitted National Movement, a group that wants the U.S. government to do more to help end Israel’s war in Gaza, before her rally. She “listened to stories of people in Michigan who have had dozens of family members killed in Gaza. The leaders asked to meet with her about the embargo request, and said she had indicated that she was open to a meeting, and directed the two leaders to her staff,” the New York Times reports.

Additionally, she refused to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress last month, despite the fact that, as vice president, she presides over the Senate. Then she met with him and pushed for a ceasefire, called the war “devastating,” and pushed for the Israeli military to withdraw entirely from Gaza. This is in stark contrast to Donald Trump, who has said that Israel’s only mistakes have been “PR” and that Israel should “finish up your war” and “get the job done.”

Despite having a good conversation with her before the rally and getting a chance to make their case to push her even further on the issue, they still heckled her as if she wasn’t even worth having a conversation with.

At first, she responded by acknowledging the hecklers and politely asking them to stop: “I’m here because we believe in democracy. Everyone’s voice matters. But I am speaking now. I am speaking now.”

But that didn’t stop them, so she went for the jugular, drawing massive applause from the audience: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

In 2016, several left-leaning to far-left queer acquaintances of mine expressed surprising support for Trump. Sure, they said, he would be terrible on just about everything, but Hillary Clinton was just as bad, they insisted, without knowing anything about her actual policy positions.

One person told me at the time that he thought Trump would bring on the Communist revolution while Clinton would appease people just enough to suppress said revolution.

It’s been eight years and… I don’t think that revolution is happening.

Moral purism can lead to inaction on the left for a lot of reasons. Being guided by moral beliefs – instead of bigotry or greed – can be tricky since morals don’t like to compromise. There were over 150 million people who voted in 2020 elections, and the chance that two candidates could represent the exact worldview and positions on all relevant issues of more than a handful of those tens of millions of people is vanishingly small. Almost everyone is going to have to compromise; it’s just an issue of numbers.

And compromise is necessary for action in a democracy. The Democratic and Republican parties are each a coalition of diverse ideologies, cobbled together to try to get 51% of votes for something closer to what their constituents believe than what the other party is offering. Action, in such a system, is only possible with compromise and humility.

Leftists and center-leftists also tend to be skeptical of power to varying degrees, much to their credit. That skepticism is great when it comes to incisive criticism of the status quo, but it turns ugly if those criticizing lack knowledge about who is in power and what they’re doing.

Those who are skeptical without knowing where to direct that skepticism often turn to braindead cynicism. Social media has proved that just saying the worst possible interpretation of the few facts that one actually does know will result in applause from others who know even less. Because the goal for many is to feel that their general unease about how the world works is acknowledged, not to actually learn how to change anything.

Last, people on the left side of the political spectrum are prone to overanalyzing issues and finding ways to disagree with others who agree with them on almost everything… and only bringing those conflicts up with people who share most of their beliefs. It’s a lot easier and less scary to criticize liberals and leftists to their faces – like chanting at Harris at a Harris rally – than it is to take those criticisms to the people who really need to hear them.

Harris’ campaign has been marked by palpable joy. As LGBTQ Nation’s John Gallagher pointed out, she’s “all smiles, exuberant, energetic, and upbeat” on the campaign trail. She knows the issues, but she’s not doom and gloom about them. She understands what’s at stake—hence all the “We’re not going back” chants—but nothing is pointless.

She showed at the Detroit rally that that hope and joy aren’t just an aesthetic. Real optimism defends itself. It knows what needs to be done and provides the fuel necessary to work towards that goal.

While I can’t say for certain why each individual person at that rally cheered when Harris brought up the specter of Trump winning the election when heckled, I know that I felt relief to see that she understood what needed to be done—not demonstrating moral purity but pragmatically working to keep Trump out of office—and that she had the assertiveness and confidence to say it directly to the people who need to hear it.

The protestors’ chant was wrong. Harris doesn’t support genocide. If someone is actually concerned about saving lives in Gaza, then they should vote for her and keep Trump out of office. Even Gazans are saying that.

She shouldn’t – and thankfully didn’t – have a hard time saying just that.

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