Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday ripped Vice President Harris for her policy on Israel, calling her a “wrecking ball” for her stance on the country’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas and other foreign policy issues.
“Obviously she has some talent, but here’s what I would say on foreign policy, she’s been a wrecking ball on Israel,” Graham said on ABC News’s “This Week.” “On Israel, she sat there and listened to somebody call the Israeli government, and people engaging in genocide and did nothing about it.”
It was not immediately clear the instance Graham referred to regarding claims of genocide against Israel. However, Harris has recently heard from protestors against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on the campaign trail. Last month, protestors interrupted her campaign rally in Michigan, shouting, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide.”
Graham then alleged Harris “boycotted” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session in Congress in July when she notably did not attend.
While she would traditionally preside over a joint session involving a foreign leader’s address as vice president, Harris had a scheduling conflict on the road in Indiana. Vice presidents often preside over these speeches, but they are not obligated to do so.
Several Democratic lawmakers did not attend Netanyahu’s address in protest of Israel’s failure to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas after months of a war that has left more than 40,000 Palestinians dead in Gaza.
“She boycotted Bibi’s speech to the Congress, sending the signal to Hamas and Iran that America really doesn’t have Israel’s back,” Graham said. “She was cheerleading the withdrawal from Afghanistan. She’s bragged about being the last person in the room. The dumbest decision maybe in modern history by an American administration.”
Trump criticized Harris for not attending the speech and called her subsequent meeting with Netanyahu as “insulting.”
Harris has walked a fine line in discussing her stance on the Israel-Hamas war, with protestors calling for a more direct condemnation and a more nuanced perspective than President Biden has offered.
During her speech, Harris pledged the U.S. would always defend Israel and help it defend itself, saying Israel “must never again face the horror” that Hamas brought in its Oct. 7 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others. But she also expressed her concern about the death toll in Gaza.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating,” she said to a round of applause. “The scale of suffering heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security and freedom to self-determination.”
A number of outside observers have argued her public remarks have shown a shift, at least in their emphasis, from past remarks by President Biden. Pro-Palestinian protestors, however, contend they have not gone far enough.
Graham argued Harris has been a part of “the most incompetent administration on issues “that mean the most to the American people,” including “safety and prosperity.”
“This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl noted Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the GOP vice presidential candidate, also did not attend Netanyahu’s speech.
“Well, but he wasn’t – yes, but it, but he wasn’t vice president of the United States. And no – nobody doubts J.D.’s support for Israel. JD has been unequivocally supporting Israel,” he said. “She has been horrible. She’s slow-walking weapons. She didn’t attend the speech. And that juiced up every terrorist in the region. So, it’s not a fair comparison.”
During Harris’s meeting with Netanyahu in July, she urged him to get a cease-fire and hostage release deal done.
The Hill reached out to Harris’s campaign for comment.
