Did Kamala Harris and her campaign REALLY think that picking Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro was going to be enough to placate the anti-Semitic pro-Hamas crowd?

Maybe. Because there is no logical reason to snub Josh Shapiro – the governor of a swing state she really must win – over Tim Walz, who, so far, has produced a massive amount of problems for the Harris camp. Walz has spent all day being absolutely hammered on claims of stolen valor (which Nina covered here), but those claims have only continued to get worse. And by worse, I mean it is all on tape.

Journalists did an all hands on deck rush to defend this, including people like Jake Tapper and ABC News, apparently thinking there wasn't more video out there.

There is. https://t.co/HV0JoSrMZm

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 8, 2024

Add that to J.D. Vance absolutely having some real fun with reporters in Wisconsin when he happened to cross paths with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and the newly minted Harris-Walz team was hoping to put everything behind them with a really huge campaign rally in Michigan last night.

Apparently the “uncommitted” movement in Michigan – who made a statement by not voting for Joe Biden during the primaries – had demanded a meeting with Kamala Harris to “clarify” her stance on Israel and a potential arms embargo.

Among the movement leaders at Wednesday’s press conference were Michigan movement co-founder Layla Elabed; Lexis Zeidan, a co-chair of the uncommitted national movement; and Mikal Goodman, a Pontiac City Council member. They said they wanted a meeting with Harris and her senior policy team.

(Movement co-founder Abbas)Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate to the Democratic National Convention later this month, said the uncommitted movement would not endorse Harris for president unless she “(tells) us where she stands on Gaza and on the issue of weapons transfers specifically, so that we know what message we can take back to the voters that we mobilize here in Michigan.”

The uncommitted movement will be sending 30 delegates to the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19-22, leadership said.

Kamala Harris met with them, but they didn’t get what they wanted.

"Harris 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 [arms] embargo request [against Israel], and she indicated she was open to it, and introduced the two leaders to her staff."

— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) August 8, 2024

Since they didn’t get Harris’s instant loyalty to their cause, they showed up to protest her at the rally. And it was obvious that Kamala Harris was pissed off about being heckled.

Demonstrators in the crowd at Harris’s Detroit rally repeatedly shouted out as the vice president spoke to an airplane hangar packed with supporters, “Kamala, Kamala you can’t Hide, we won’t vote for genocide.” The crowd booed and drowned out the protesters with chants of “Kamala.”

“I’m here because we believe in democracy. Everyone’s voice matters, but I am speaking now. I am speaking now,” Harris said to applause.

As protesters continued to interrupt, Harris delivered a more blunt warning.

“You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win then say that. Otherwise I’m speaking,” she said.

That is a whole lot to unpack there. First of all, the “I’m speaking” line, as author Charlie Spiering points out, is the one she uses whenever she is interrupted. She means it to be assertive girl boss, but it comes off as scoldy stepmother.

Second, “if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that”?

it's also a self-own because she's not dismissing their point, she wants them to be quiet "or Trump wins".

— gosuprime (@gosuprime022) August 8, 2024

Bingo. If the party splits over Israel, the election may as well be gift-wrapped for Donald Trump. And Kamala Harris did not help herself here. She could have slapped down the protesters and had a “Sister Souljah” moment of her own. She didn’t. Her campaign had the protesters removed from the venue, and then the campaign issued this statement, once they’d had time to think about it.

“Since October 7, the Vice President has prioritized engaging with Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian community members and others regarding the war in Gaza. In this brief engagement, she reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with those communities. The Vice President has been clear: she will always work to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. The Vice President is focused on securing the ceasefire and hostage deal currently on the table. As she has said, it is time for this war to end in a way where: Israel is secure, hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”

Now THERE’S a statement that will… satisfy no one.

Kamala has not uttered a word about “Hamas” in this statement or even mention it, as she’s too cowardly to go on the record that she supports their continued reign in Gaza. https://t.co/7z3j8S8C6v

— David Shor (@DYShor) August 8, 2024

Nothing short of throwing her complete and total support behind Hamas and blocking all arms sales to Israel is going to satisfy the anti-Semites of Michigan. And she can’t even muster up the backbone to tell them “no” right to their faces. So what happens now? According to reporter Jonathan Weisman, covering the rally for the New York Times, nothing good for the Democrats.

I was with two “uncommitted” Democratic delegates Wednesday afternoon. They made it clear they intend to be disruptive at the convention in Chicago in two weeks if they don’t get their demands — and their demands are not going to be met.

The chant, by the way, was “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We won’t vote for genocide.” Not a welcoming message in a state that Trump won in 2016 by little more than 10,000 votes.

The last thing that Democrats want is a protest chant on the convention floor – and remember, the “uncommitted” group says they have 30 delegates – pointing out that the Democrat party has a massive anti-Semitism problem to a televised audience. There is likely going to be chaos going on outside – what will happen if the chaos is also INSIDE?

But at least the protesters got an unscripted response from Kamala Harris. That’s more than the media following her around has managed to get.

Featured image: Kamala Harris via Gage Skidmore, cropped, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)