By my count, the combined times of Harris and Walz speeches was roughly 50 minutes, which is about half the length of Trump’s convention speech.
“As president, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals.” The last person in the room during the Afghanistan withdrawal, everyone. She never wavered in presiding over a military botchery that got American men and women killed.
Harris, predictably, tries to “both sides” the war in Gaza in a way that she did not with the war in Ukraine. She claims to support Israel, and yet she parrots Hamas propaganda about Gaza. The truth is that Hamas is completely responsible for any suffering in Gaza and the war would have been long over had the Biden administration supported Israel rather than kneecapping it at every turn and appeasing Iran.
Hey, look at how effective a nominee can be when she decides to stick to the written script, and doesn’t decide to just wing it and start sharing his optimism about the Green Bay Packers for this season.
Raise your hand if you think the Iranian regime wants Trump to win, as she just claimed the world’s dictators do.
Kamala Harris on Israel:
“And let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.”
At the same time, “what has happened in Gaza over the last ten months is devastating.” Harris adds that, “the scale of the suffering is heartbreaking.” She promises to seek a ceasefire that preserves Israeli security. But given Hamas’s objection to such a deal, Harris’s own rhetoric should – should – compel her to lean into her first statement more than the second.
The usual spiel about working for a ceasefire would be a little more effective if Harris acknowledged that Hamas, over and over again, keeps refusing the ceasefire and violated the short-lived ceasefire earlier in the war. The entire Biden approach to this has been to assume Hamas is rational, reasonable, sensible guys who can be cajoled into releasing hostages and recognizing Israel’s right to exist.
“I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.” – Kamala Harris
Substance aside, roughly 30 minutes in, this is a much more focused speech than Trump’s rambling and self-indulgent convention speech.
Kamala Harris (or her speechwriter) is reviving that annoying Obama speech tic: “Let me be clear.” You can be clear, Kamala. No one is stopping you!