Harris’ attempt to engage with Arab and Muslim voters is backfiring spectacularly, threatening to cost her 19 Electoral College votes and possibly the election.
Kamala Harris has been warned that she risks losing the state of Pennsylvania and the election if she does not denounce the anti-Israel activists who have appeared on the campaign trail before her.
The incumbent vice president will campaign in Pittsburgh tomorrow as the race for the White House enters its final hours, alongside the likes of Lady Gaga.
There is backlash in the city after her campaign hosted speakers who openly blamed Israel for the horrific October 7 attacks by Hamas terrorists.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato both spoke at events despite previously saying Israel was responsible for the massacre.
The two, along with Rep. Summer Lee, signed a statement claiming the violence “did not start on October 7.”
The incumbent vice president, seen here Sunday night, will campaign in Pittsburgh tomorrow as the race for the White House enters its final hours
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is seen here at a campaign event on October 10. He had signed a letter blaming Israel for the October 7 attack
Their statement angered Jewish communities across Pittsburgh, which according to the New York Post represents a significant portion of the population.
The newspaper reported that there is a Jewish population of 400,000 who are about to cast their votes in the elections on Tuesday, but they are now at stake.
With those votes in jeopardy, she could potentially lose the state’s 19 Electoral College votes, evaporating her chances for the presidency.
Several Jewish Democrats in Pittsburgh told the Post that they feel betrayed by the party over these issues.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato previously signed a letter saying Israel was responsible for the massacre
Mother-of-two Aviva Lubowsky, 45, was not one of them but said she would support Harris but warned that Democrats should fear losing the Jewish vote.
She said, “If the Democratic Party wants to retain its Jewish voter base, they must shun and denounce extremists in the party.
“The rhetoric they are using is dangerous for the safety of my children. It ensures that people who would otherwise be voted for [Harris]to vote for Trump.”
Lubowsky said she would support Harris for president, but will cast her vote for Republican James Hayes in hopes of dethroning Squad member Summer Lee.
Jennifer Murtazashvili, a Jewish political scientist at the University of Pittsburgh, told The Post she wasn’t surprised to hear that Jewish voters were concerned.
She said about 60 percent of her liberal Jewish friends are all considering voting for Trump because they have no confidence that Harris will fight anti-Semitism.
‘The mainstream progressive left has a big problem. How can we discern what her policies are other than by the people she surrounds herself with?,” she said.
Trump clenches his fist after delivering a speech at the end of a campaign rally in Macon, Georgia, on Sunday evening
Another Jewish Democrat told the paper, “There are undecided voters in the Jewish community that I never thought there would be.”
“These are Democrats, not just registered Democrats, but [people] who voted for Obama, Clinton and Biden.
“The lack of moral clarity gives people pause,” adding that Harris declined to say whether she would limit support for Israel as a problem.
Another voter said she was considering voting for Trump, citing people like Gainey and Innamorato as the problem.
The unidentified woman said: “They clearly understood how dangerous it would be for Summer [Lee] to be there. They are aware of this problem. They could have distanced themselves.’
Concerns about Jewish safety are especially salient in Pittsburgh after Robert Bowers killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018.
Two people support each other in front of flowers at a makeshift memorial at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Sunday, October 28, 2018
First lady Melania Trump, accompanied by President Donald Trump, lays a white flower at a memorial for the dead at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh
In more recent times, three Jewish students at the University of Pittsburgh were attacked on campus.
Murtazashvili added: “When you have faced the kind of violence that our community has faced here and when you see the kind of violence that Israel is facing, this seems terribly existential.
“It was shocking to see that language after the mayor saw what was happening to Jewish students in his own city.”
Harris supporter and Tree of Life massacre survivor Audrey Glickman, meanwhile, did not blame the Harris campaign for trying to appeal to Arab and Muslim voters.
She said, “Kamala Harris is not a team member. She has been to Pittsburgh more than once, spoken to us more than once and has addressed anti-Semitism as a topic.”
Polls in September showed Harris’ support among Jewish voters for Democrats was the lowest in more than three decades.
Jewish voters in the US have historically been liberal, and the majority have voted for Democratic candidates in every presidential election since 1924.