US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Tuesday called for an end to the Israel-Gaza war and said Israel should not reoccupy Palestinian territory after the nearly year-old conflict ended.
Speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia, he called for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants, a two-state solution and stability in the Middle East that would not empower Iran.
“We have made it clear that this agreement must be done in the best interest of everyone in the region,” US Vice President Harris said in response to questions posed by three reporters.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 41,252 people have been killed and 95,497 injured in Israeli attacks in the Hamas-ruled Strip since October 7. The war began that day when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Harris was asked about Springfield, Ohio, a city that has been at the center of a social media storm for several days after right-wing protesters falsely claimed that people from Haiti were eating household pets.
Former President Donald Trump, Harris’ Republican opponent in the Nov. 5 presidential election, has pledged to carry out mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from Springfield if elected, even though most of them are in the United States legally.
“It’s tiresome, it’s hurtful, and it’s hateful, and it’s based on some antiquated stereotypes that we should not tolerate,” Harris said.
The 45-minute interview began with economic issues. Harris said she would work with private investors to boost housing supply if elected president, acknowledging more work is needed to bring down prices for Americans.
“One of the biggest problems affecting people right now in terms of the economy and their economic well-being is that we have a housing shortage,” Harris said. “It’s too expensive.”
Harris reiterated a plan to increase the child tax credit to $6,000. She reiterated her promise that Americans will spend no more than 7% of their income on child care.
The interview was scheduled because Harris did not attend the group’s convention in Chicago in July after Trump questioned her Black identity in an interview.
Harris, Trump attract black voters
In the 2020 presidential election, Black voters supported then-candidate Joe Biden by a margin of 92% to 8%, while backing then-President Trump by an 8% margin, according to the Pew Research Center. A majority of Black voters, 63%, plan to support Harris, compared to 13% for Trump, according to an NAACP survey released this month.
However, some black voters are losing faith in the Democratic Party. An NAACP survey shows that more than a quarter of young black men say they will support Trump in this election.
“Black men are like any other voter group. You have to earn their vote,” Harris said.
The interview was conducted by NABJ members from theGrio and Politico and an anchor from public radio station WHYY-FM.
Both Harris and Trump have made efforts to woo black voters, whose support could be decisive in the closely fought November 5 election, especially in key states like Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Some forecasters consider Pennsylvania a must-win state.
Georgia is facing a tough battle for Black voters, who make up a third of the state’s population and have the largest proportion of Black voters of the seven battleground states.
Trump’s effort to win more support from black voters is complicated by his traditional loyalty to the Democratic Party, his past racist comments and a history of Republican-backed voting restrictions that activists say make it harder for black residents to vote. Republicans deny trying to suppress the vote.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
