U.S.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala
Harris called on Tuesday for an end to the Israel-Gaza war and
said that Israel must not reoccupy the Palestinian enclave once the nearly
year-old conflict comes to an end.
Speaking
in Philadelphia to the National Association of Black Journalists, she called
for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants, a two-state
solution and Middle East stability in a way that does not empower Iran.
"We've
made ourselves very clear this deal needs to get done in the best interest of
everyone in the region," Harris, the U.S. vice president, said in response
to questions asked by three journalists.
At
least 41,252 people have been killed and 95,497 wounded in the Israeli
offensive in the Hamas-ruled strip since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said.
The war began that day when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly
civilians, and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Harris
was asked about Springfield, Ohio, a city that for days has found itself at the
center of a social media maelstrom after right-wing agitators latched onto
false claims that Haitian arrivals were eating household pets.
Former President Donald Trump, Harris'
Republican rival in the Nov. 5 presidential election, has pledged to conduct
mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from Springfield if elected, even
though the majority are in the United States legally.
"This
is exhausting and it's harmful and it's hateful and grounded in some age-old
stuff that we should not have the tolerance for," Harris said.
The
45-minute interview began with economic issues. Harris said that if elected
president she will work with private investors to boost housing supply,
acknowledging that more work was needed to lower prices for Americans.
"One
of the big issues that affects people right now in terms of the economy and
their economic wellbeing is we have a shortage of housing supply," Harris
said. "It's too expensive."
Harris
reiterated a plan to expand the child tax credit to $6,000. She repeated a
pledge that Americans not pay more than 7% of their income on childcare.
HARRIS,
TRUMP COURT BLACK VOTERS
In
the 2020 presidential election, Black voters supported then-candidate Joe Biden
92% to 8% over the then-incumbent Trump, according to the Pew Research Center.
Most Black voters, 63%, plan to support Harris, compared with 13% for
Trump, according to an NAACP survey released this month.
However,
some Black voters are losing faith in the Democratic Party. Over one quarter of
younger Black men say they would support Trump this election, the NAACP poll
showed.
"Black
men are like any other voting group," Harris said. "You gotta earn
their vote."
The
interview was conducted by NABJ members from TheGrio and Politico as well as an
anchor for WHYY-FM, a public radio station.
Both
Harris and Trump have made efforts to win over Black voters, whose support may
be decisive in the closely fought Nov. 5 vote, especially in a handful of
battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Some
forecasters regard Pennsylvania as a must-win state.
In
Georgia, an intense battle is being waged for the
Black voters who make up a third of the state's population, the biggest
proportion of Black voters in any of the seven battleground states.
Trump's
attempt to pull in more support from Black voters is complicated by their
traditional loyalty to the Democratic Party, his past racist remarks and a
history of Republican-backed voting restrictions that activists say make it
harder for Black residents to vote. Republicans deny trying to suppress the
vote.