Former Vice President Kamala Harris, once the Democratic nominee who failed to capture the White House, reportedly faced a chilly reception during a stop on her international book tour Friday, as demonstrators repeatedly interrupted her appearance and denounced her record in office.
Harris was promoting her memoir, 107 Days, at the Southbank Centre when three separate protesters rose from the audience within minutes of her arrival onstage to challenge her role in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Outside the venue, critics gathered with Palestinian flags and a banner declaring “genocide enablers are war criminals,” while chanting, “Kamala Harris not welcome here!” The scene underscored the lingering anger among pro-Palestinian groups who view Harris’s time in Washington as a continuation of policies they believe helped fuel the war in Gaza.
Harris attempted to strike a tone of empathy as she addressed the hecklers, acknowledging the deep frustration that has trailed her since she departed office. “I understand the passion and the emotion and the feeling based on everything that has happened in Gaza,” she told the audience.
Reflecting on her tenure in the Biden administration, she conceded that Washington had failed to use all available diplomatic tools, saying, “As I write in the book, we had levers we did not exercise.”
Such remarks may do little to quiet critics who argue that Harris, as vice president, supported arms transfers to Israel and avoided meaningful pressure on Israeli leadership.
During the 2024 election cycle, several prominent pro-Palestinian factions withdrew their support, illustrating the extent to which disillusionment had set in among groups that once embraced Democratic leadership.
That tension has now followed Harris across the Atlantic. Her tour, organized by Simon & Schuster, spans 15 cities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom and continues through Nov. 20.
Yet the reception at recent events has been uneven. Some stops have reportedly struggled to attract enthusiastic crowds, while others have drawn a mix of admirers, skeptics, and vocal opponents — a reflection of the political wounds still fresh from her fleeting 2024 candidacy.
In her onstage conversation with novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Harris defended the hurried nature of her campaign in the wake of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race following what she described as a disastrous debate performance against President Donald J. Trump in August of that year. “We did not have enough time even with 107 days,” she said, invoking the title of her memoir, which recounts the three-and-a-half-month sprint that ended in defeat.
Harris has sought to use her global platform to rehabilitate her political image and explore a path forward within a Democratic Party still wrestling with ideological divisions.
She has already dismissed speculation about a future gubernatorial run in California in 2026, though she has notably avoided ruling out another attempt at the presidency in 2028.
But as protests shadow her from city to city, Harris is confronting a reality that her critics appear unwilling to forget: The choices made while in power do not fade quickly, and the political consequences — especially on matters of war and foreign policy — can stretch far beyond a 107-day campaign.
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