In its first ad targeting Kamala Harris, Republican Jewish Coalition slams her absence from Netanyahu speech
Sen. Kamala Harris in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Nov. 13, 2018. She will likely run for president. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(JTA) — WASHINGTON — The Republican Jewish Coalition released its first ad targeting Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the presidency, slamming her for not attending and presiding over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint meeting of Congress.
“Now, in her first test as a presidential candidate, Kamala snubs Israel again,” said the 30-second digital ad, which the RJC released Wednesday and said cost in the five figures. “Instead of supporting America’s strongest ally by attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, Kamala Harris decides to go to a sorority luncheon. A sorority luncheon? She can’t be serious.”
The ad also referenced previous comments she made where she voiced sympathy for anti-Israel student protesters.
At the time of the speech, Harris was campaigning in Indiana, addressing a sorority event. Vice presidents conventionally co-preside with the speaker of the House of Representatives at joint meetings of Congress, in their capacity as president of the Senate. Harris’s staff have noted that she is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon with Netanyahu.
Also absent was Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, the running mate of former President Donald Trump, whom Harris is set to face in the November election. Vance also was campaigning, and addressed an evening rally in Radford, Virginia.
The ad demonstrated that the RJC campaign against Harris will center a longtime Republican argument to Jewish voters: That the party is more reliably pro-Israel and thus a more comfortable home for American Jews. Republicans have made that case especially this year, as anti-Israel protests organized largely by progressive groups have spread across American cities and college campuses, and as a subset of Democratic officials have called for an end to U.S. assistance to Israel.
Democrats have countered by citing Biden’s support for Israel, particularly since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that launched the war — which itself was the subject of a Jewish Democratic Council of America in November. They have also aimed to highlight Trump’s associations with far-right and antisemitic figures. And on Thursday, Harris released a statement denouncing protesters of Netanyahu’s speech who supported Hamas.
“I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews,” the statement said. “Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation.”
The voice-over in the RJC’s ad repeatedly mispronounces Harris’s first name. RJC’s CEO, Matt Brooks, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that focusing on the pronunciation of her name was “inside baseball nonsense.”
Harris, the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother and a Jamaican father has, since she ran for the Senate in California, explained how her name is pronounced, at times using humor. In a political autobiography, she said it is pronounced like the pronunciation mark, plus “la” — “comma-la.”
That hasn’t stopped conservative pundits and Republicans, including Trump and Tucker Carlson, from repeatedly mispronouncing her name.
In a text message, Brooks said that the name’s pronunciation should not be what voters focus on.
“The question isn’t how her name is pronounced, it [is] about why she thought it more important to attend a sorority lunch rather than preside over the Prime Minister’s historic address to Congress,” Brooks said.
“We’re not mocking her name,” Brooks said. “Not every American has access to the AP style guide on how her name is pronounced. Ask 100 people and half will say it one half the other. The key is the message. Not the inside baseball nonsense about pronunciation.”
Asked about Vance’s absence, Brooks said Harris’ status as vice president was on a different level, and that he was sure that Vance as vice president would “proudly” preside over an Israeli prime minister’s speech to Congress.
“Kamala Harris failed her first test to the Jewish community by choosing to attend a sorority luncheon rather than preside as President of the Senate while one of America’s most important allies address a congressional joint session in a time of war,” he said.
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