What Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has to say about the war in the Middle East depends on which battleground state you catch her in, a CNN analysis published Friday shows.
Harris’s targeted ads in Pennsylvania and Michigan — two hotly contested battlegrounds — showcase different parts of her stance on Israel; the ads in Pennsylvania aim to sway Jewish voters, while the ads in Michigan hope to rally the state’s Arab-American base.
In a Pennsylvania ad, Harris says that she will “stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself,” a different spin on a message presented in a Michigan ad, which states that Harris “will not be silent about the human suffering occurring in Gaza.”
“And let me be clear,” Harris says in the Pennsylvania ad, which is a video of her Democratic National Committee speech. “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.”
“And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists,” she adds.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, Harris is highlighting her commitment to ending “human suffering occurring in Gaza.”
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating,” Harris says in the Michigan ad. “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.”
Harris said in October, after Israeli forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, that “this moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” adding that the war “must end 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, freedom and self-determination.” Arab-American voters, a usually reliable Democratic voting bloc, have struggled to support Harris’s campaign over her support of Israel, with many promising to vote for Donald Trump or a third-party candidate instead.