(AFP) – Democrat Kamala Harris came in for a deluge of mockery by Republicans and right-wing US media Wednesday after the release of a short video clip from her first public comments since losing to Donald Trump. The Democratic Party posted a 28-second clip from longer remarks made by Harris in a video conference call Tuesday to thank supporters from her failed November 5 bid.
In the 13-minute call, which also featured remarks by Harris’s running mate Tim Walz, she said her supporters would not “get knocked down” after running the “unprecedented” emergency campaign against Trump in the wake of President Joe Biden’s shock decision to abandon his reelection attempt. “The outcome of this election, obviously, is not what we wanted. It is not what we worked so hard for, but I am proud of the race we ran,” she said.
But the clip posted on the Democratic Party’s X account was cast by Republicans, amplified across Fox News-affiliated websites, as a PR disaster. “The dial-up modem sound played on an infinite loop is more bearable than 28 seconds of whatever this is,” said Republican Representative Virginia Fox. “I’d read a 5,000 word article on how this got approved for release,” said Ben Williamson, a conservative who works as a staffer in the House of Representatives.
Some went further, making memes — and in one case a doctored video — to claim Harris was drinking. In the clip chosen by the Democratic Party from the extended conference call, Harris sought to buoy supporters, saying, “Don’t you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before November 5th.”
“You have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you,” she said. Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur who became famous for an outsider’s 2020 presidential run, said the published clip was taken out of context, but shouldn’t have been published. “The Kamala Harris video is pulled from a grassroots event she did — I’m not sure amplifying it is the right move. Some messages are just for your supporters.”
© 2024 AFP
