House Speaker Mike Johnson called out Vice President Kamala Harris in a scorching statement about her “unconscionable” choice to snub Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address Congress on Wednesday but Harris, the now-presumptive Democrat nominee following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, has opted to focus on her campaign with an address at a sorority event instead.
Neither Biden nor Harris will be in attendance as the Israeli leader speaks before lawmakers, echoing his speech to Congress in 2015 when Biden, then vice president to Barack Obama, skipped the event.
Democrats always seem to have an excuse for boycotting the Chamber when Israel’s Prime Minister addresses Congress.
Joe Biden had a weak excuse for missing the last Netanyahu address in 2015, and now Kamala Harris is skipping his speech tomorrow.
This is inexcusable. pic.twitter.com/fRmwCryWxs
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 23, 2024
“President Biden, who was the vice president at the time, skipped that address just as our current vice president will be boycotting the speech,” Johnson (R-LA) told the New York Post in an interview Tuesday.
“I believe that’s unconscionable,” he said.
Indeed, neither Biden, Harris, nor Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on hand to greet Netanyahu when he arrived in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
Missing Biden, Harris snub Netanyahu during Israeli leader’s visit https://t.co/f9QATGaCXk via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) July 23, 2024
“He’ll emphasize the importance of America’s resolve and our support,” Johnson said of Netanyahu’s speech. “Israel is in a war for its very survival. It’s arguably the most desperate time for Israel since they became a nation-state again.”
“We need to have the truth presented,” the speaker added, “regardless of the political turmoil and all the rest that’s circling about our politics in a contentious election year.”
Clapping back at critics claiming the prime minister’s speech is a “political stunt,” Johnson reminded everyone that it was Democrat leaders who blocked Netanyahu from coming earlier this year, before the current political turmoil in the U.S. government.
“It’s the opposite of a political stunt. It was not his idea — it was mine,” Johnson told The Post. “We issued the invitation and I would have done this many months ago.”
“In fact, that was the intention early in the spring, but I could not get [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer to cosign,” he noted.
“Ultimately, he did not do so until he got enough public pressure,” Johnson said. “And, that was a great frustration to me.”
Netanyahu is reportedly going to meet with Harris later in the week though many wonder for what purpose since she clearly put her campaigning efforts ahead of government duties. Harris reportedly had already scheduled the event where she will address the historically black Zeta Phi Beta sorority’s “Grand Boule” in Indianapolis.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump will be meeting Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Friday.
“It is outrageous to me and inexcusable… that Kamala Harris is boycotting this joint session,” Johnson said at a House Republican press briefing on Tuesday.
(Video Credit: Forbes Breaking News)
“Kamala Harris will abandon her seat,” he added.”She will not be there because she refuses to attend. She needs to be held accountable for that.”
“The idea that [Democrats] are making political calculations when our ally is in such dire straits, fighting for its very survival… is unconscionable to us,” the speaker said, citing other Democrats who will not be attending.
Johnson invited allies of Israel to attend the prime minister’s address as well as family members of the five remaining US hostages being held by Hamas since the terrorist attack last October 7— Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra, Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Fox News host Mark Levin, former Minnesota GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matthew Brooks, and US Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew, will also reportedly be in attendance, according to The Post.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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