Harris doesn't reject Gaza 'genocide' claim during student forum; Trump: 'Bibi wouldn't listen to Biden'

U.S. presidential candidates make controversial  statements two week  ahead of elections in final bid to grow voter base in historically tight race  

Daniel Edelson, Tzippy Shmilovitz, New York|
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump said during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania overnight Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him he "wouldn’t listen" to U.S. President Joe Biden.
"Bibi called me today and he said, it's pretty incredible, but he wouldn't listen to Biden because if he did, they wouldn't be in this position," Trump said.
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דונלד טראמפ
דונלד טראמפ
Donald Trump
(Photo: Alex Brandon / AP)
In a campaign rally, Trump said his opponent in the race to the White House was worse than Biden. "she’s not as smart as him. And I’m not saying he’s the smartest — but she’s not as smart as him."
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris attended a meeting with students in Wisconsin late last week and when one shouted at her that she was supporting a genocide in Gaza, she did not reject his claim.
She told the student she wanted a cease-fire and the war to end but added that she is speaking now and not him.
The keffiyeh-wearing protester proceeded to shout: "But what about the genocide?” and as he was escorted out he shouted, "19,000 children are dead, and you won’t call it a genocide. Israel is committing genocide."
"Listen, what he's talking about, it's real," Harris told the students in the room, "and I respect his voice but that is not what I'm here to talk about."
Harris agreeing with pro-Palestinian heckler
(Video: via X)

"The statements made don’t reflect the position of the Biden-Harris administration or the vice president’s stance,” a source familiar with the exchange told Ynet adding that Harris did not agree with the protester, and when security escorted him out, she made a general statement about the need to end the war and expressed empathy for the genuine feelings that the matter evokes in many people. However, the source said, she didn’t agree with defining the war as a genocide, and she has not expressed such a stance in the past, as this is not her position.
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המפגין הפרו-פלסטיני שהתפרץ לדבריה של קמלה האריס
המפגין הפרו-פלסטיני שהתפרץ לדבריה של קמלה האריס
Pro-Palestinan protester at Harris' event
(Photo: via X)
The source in the Vice President's campaign said it was clear in the video clip from the event that Harris did not agree with the things said and that the protesters' aim was for people to call the war in Gaza a genocide. If Harris had agreed with such a claim, there would have been no reason to remove the student from the event.
The comments made by both candidates come a little over two weeks before the U.S. election on November 5, against the backdrop of the Biden administration's threats of a weapons embargo on Israel if it continues to block the transfer of American humanitarian aid to Gaza.
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קמלה האריס באוניברסיטת ויסקונסין-מילווקי
קמלה האריס באוניברסיטת ויסקונסין-מילווקי
Kamala Harris speaks to students in Wisconsin
(Photo: X)
Harris faced a setback last week after the American-Arab political lobby AAPAC announced it wouldn’t endorse any presidential candidate for the first time since its establishment in 1998, citing that "both candidates blindly support Israel."
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