Kamala Harris, in a new interview, said she didn’t believe the China spy balloon incident will have much of an effect on the countries’ relationship, drawing mockery from Republicans.
In a wide-ranging interview with Politico published on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris made more news for her strange answer to a question related to China and the recent spy balloon incident than for anything else she said about Israel, Ukraine, or the 2024 election.
What Did Kamala Harris Do Now?
Asked in the interview if she thinks the balloon incident would have an effect on U.S./China relations, Harris answered “I don’t think so, no.” She added that when it comes to China, “we seek competition, but not conflict or confrontation.”
“Everything that has happened in the last week and a half is, we believe, very consistent with our stated approach,” Kamala Harris said, adding that she had reiterated those feelings to Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met in November.
Kamala Harris is scheduled to depart soon to attend the Munich Security Conference, and while China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be in attendance, Harris does not plan to meet with him there, although Secretary of State Antony Blinken may do so.
Republican lawmakers were sharply critical of what the vice president had to say in the interview.
“VP Harris is giving the Chinese Communist Party a pass,” U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said on Twitter in reaction to the Politico interview. “This pathetic weakness will only invite more aggression.”
“The weakness that this administration continues to project has empowered bad actors across the world,” Rep Byron Daniels (R-FL), said on Twitter. “You don’t just brush off a clear violation of our sovereignty like it’s nothing. We are the United States of America & we need to start acting like it.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) called Harris’ China comments “an incredibly incompetent thing to say” and added that “this admin’s appeasement & weak leadership are creating chaos. They need to take a stand for once.”
Former President Trump had not weighed in on the Harris interview on Truth Social as of Wednesday night, but he did share an article stating that the Supreme Court was considering hearing a lawsuit alleging that “President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Mike Pence, 291 House members, and 94 senators violated their oaths of office by refusing to investigate evidence of fraud in the 2020 election before certifying Biden as the victor on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Harris Takes on the Ukraine Crisis
Elsewhere in the Politico interview, Harris weighed in on the Ukraine war.
“There is an enduring commitment on behalf of the alliance, but it’s not without sacrifice that each country is doing that,” the vice president told Politico of the administration’s continuing support for Ukraine. “And that’s to be applauded, which is a nation standing in defense of certain foundational principles when the going gets tough.” In Munich, she plans to reassure Ukraine that the U.S. has maintained its commitment to that nation’s defense.
Harris also addressed the controversial judicial reforms being proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently returned to power in that country.
“As the president has said, an independent judiciary is foundational for a democracy,” the vice president told Politico. “And I think that there is no question that we need to make sure that that is supported in terms of what we talk about [and] in terms of our values.”
And finally, Harris discussed the 2024 election, in which she is expected to remain on the ticket as President Biden pursues a second term in office.
“We were in Philadelphia recently and hundreds of people were shouting their support of the work that our administration has had and the success that our administration has accomplished and their desire to see it keep going,” she said. “So I have seen just in terms of, in real life, real people being very supportive of the work that is happening. When I look at the midterms and how people voted, that gives me further objective and empirical evidence of this point.”
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Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
