World
Report: Harris calls Mamdani, meets pro-Palestinian activists as she weighs 2028 bid
Former US vice president Kamala Harris reportedly held a call last week with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and has been holding lengthy meetings with other prominent progressives, including pro-Palestinian activists, as she weighs another presidential run in 2028.
Harris called the mayor on Thursday, two days after the candidates he backed swept three New York congressional primaries earlier this month, holding a long conversation and discussing the future of the Democratic Party, a person familiar with the call told the Axios news outlet on Wednesday.
The two have also been texting over the past few months, the report said.
In all three of last week’s races, Israel was a central issue, and the more hardline Israel critics won. The candidates all won primaries in Democratic House districts, meaning they are nearly certain to win the general election in November and enter Congress.
Harris appears determined to improve her ties with progressives, who were critical of her during the previous race for not doing more to advance the Palestinian cause.
The Harris campaign had rejected a demand from the “Uncommitted Movement,” which had refused to endorse her, to have a Palestinian speaker at the 2024 Democratic Party Convention.
Harris’s recent meetings have included ones with Uncommitted co-founder Abbas Alawieh and Democratic National Committee member James Zogby, who has been a longtime advocate for Palestinian rights, Axios reported, citing sources familiar with their conversation.
Alawieh told Axios he “reiterated my longstanding position that American tax dollars should never be used to target civilians or destroy entire communities” during their talks.
Zogby, as well as Harris and Mamdani spokespeople, refused Axios’ request for comment.
Since being voted out of office, Harris has expressed criticism of the previous administration’s policies on Israel, charging that former US president Joe Biden failed to show enough empathy toward Gazans, and regretting not putting more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza war’s impact on civilians.
In her book, Harris blamed Biden for her election loss, saying the president became unpopular in part because of the “perceived blank check” he gave Netanyahu to respond to the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.
Harris’s opinions reflect an increasingly negative view of Israel among the Democratic Party at large. A poll in April showed about 80 percent of Democrats saying they have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 40% of Republicans. Nearly half of Democrats under age 50 said they have a “very unfavorable” view of Israel.
Palestinian American and progressive strategist Rania Batrice expressed skepticism over Harris’ outreach.
“Why should we trust her now?” she told Axios. “If this change is real, she has an opportunity to prove it.”
Harris ally Patrick Gaspard, a longtime Democratic strategist, told Axios that as vice president, Harris “had concerns about a lack of empathy for Palestinians in the way the Biden White House presented their policies.”
“She tried then, as she continues now, to hear opinions beyond Foggy Bottom and Pennsylvania Ave,” Gaspard insisted.
Luke Tress contributed to this report.
