Harris addresses teachers ahead of meeting with Israeli prime minister

Vice President Harris addressed an influential teachers union in Houston on Thursday morning before traveling to Washington to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the afternoon, a preview of the delicate political and policy terrain she must navigate during her shortened and frenetic presidential campaign.

Calling herself a “proud product of public education,” Harris extolled the “noble” work of educators and attacked Republicans who have called for arming teachers to prevent school shootings.

“Just think about it. We want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books,” she said during the speech, which wrapped in a range of issues such as collective bargaining, abortion, gun violence and same-sex marriage under the broader theme of “fundamental freedoms.”

The address to the American Federation of Teachers, a 1.8-million-member group that has endorsed Harris’s candidacy, was the latest in a string of events that have demonstrated support for her bid to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump. After a rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday and a speech to thousands of Black women at a sorority convention in Indianapolis on Wednesday, Harris’s speech to teachers was yet another foray into friendly territory with large, adoring crowds. The events, featuring boisterous crowds, have showcased how swiftly she has united much of the Democratic Party behind her candidacy since she jumped into the presidential race on Sunday.

However, after Harris’s trip back to Washington, her planned a one-on-one meeting with Netanyahu is likely to be a more staid setting. In her first sit-down with a foreign leader since launching her campaign for president, Harris will have to confront the rifts that have emerged between the United States and Israel over the war in Gaza, which she has often described with forceful and empathetic language about Palestinian suffering. Voters who had vowed not to vote for Biden over his handling of the war will be watching Harris closely as she publicly deals with a thorny foreign policy matter for the first time since Biden’s exit from the presidential race.

Earlier Thursday, Harris released her campaign launch video in an attempt to introduce herself to the country during the 100-plus-day sprint to Election Day. The video aimed to draw a sharp distinction with Trump and amplify the pro-freedom theme that has become central to Harris’s pitch.

“In this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?” Harris says in the video, which campaign officials said would air across social media platforms beginning Thursday. “There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos. Of fear. Of hate. But us? We choose something different. We choose freedom.”

Meanwhile, Trump and his allies have criticized Harris more directly in recent days, aiming to define her before she has an opportunity to introduce herself more broadly to the public.

At a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump referred to Harris as a “lunatic” and “incompetent,” attacking her on immigration and painting her as incredibly liberal.

“If Kamala Harris gets in, she would be the most radical, far-left extremist ever to occupy the White House, times 10,” Trump said.

Harris’s campaign shot back Thursday by describing Trump as a “78-year-old criminal,” responding to the former president’s appearance on Fox News, in which he accused Harris of staging a “palace coup” against Biden.

“After watching Fox News this morning we only have one question, is Donald Trump ok?” the campaign said, offering Harris as “an alternative.”

Harris has largely focused on domestic policy in her appearances this week, while Biden has indicated he would spend the final six months of his term leaning into foreign policy objectives.

But groups like the American Federation of Teachers, while mostly focused on issues like educator pay, recruitment, school funding and collective bargaining, have also taken interest in the war in Gaza, calling for a cease-fire and debating whether to divest from companies linked to Israel’s military campaign. The conflict has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and created a humanitarian calamity in which thousands of children have been out of school for months.

Biden also plans to meet with Netanyahu on Thursday and speak privately with the families of hostages who were among the 250 taken captive during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, which Israel estimates killed about 1,200 people. During an address to the American people on Wednesday evening, Biden pledged to use his remaining months to bring resolution to the long-running conflict.

“I’m going to keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war,” he said.

Hours earlier, Netanyahu had delivered a defiant speech to Congress — one that Harris skipped — in which he described pro-Palestinian protesters as “useful idiots.” Thousands of protesters took to the streets to decry Netanyahu’s visit, and some burned an American flag near Union Station in Washington.

Harris issued a statement Thursday condemning the protesters who engaged in property destruction or hateful rhetoric, saying the flag “should never be desecrated in that way.”

“I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation,” she said.

Harris steered clear of the issue during her speech in Houston, instead speaking out in favor of unions and the public education system and contrasting her positions with Trump’s views.

Hundreds of teachers and other attendees lined up at the American Federation of Teachers national educators’ union convention in Houston’s cavernous downtown convention center to hear Harris speak.

Some wore Biden-Harris shirts and said they were excited to hear her speak about education, particularly public schools and teacher recruitment. “It’s a special opportunity, being part of the democratic process,” said Eric Sutz, 45, an elementary school teacher from Long Island. Sutz said he’s an independent but a Harris supporter, and was wearing a Biden-Harris T-shirt. He was pleased to see so many Democrats endorsing Harris. “It should be whittling down to the best people,” he said, and if Harris becomes the nominee, he considers that “the best outcome.”

In describing various freedoms she says are at risk in the coming election, Harris has often listed key issues that Democrats hope will drive voter turnout, including gun safety and abortion.

“The freedom not just to get by, but get ahead,” Harris says in her campaign launch video. “The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body.”

At one point in the ad, when Harris says that “no one is above the law,” an image of Trump’s mug shot flashes on the screen. But during her speech in Houston, she did not mention Trump’s felony convictions, a departure from recent events in which she has contrasted her record as a prosecutor with the former president’s long list of indictments.

Harris is continuing to ramp up her travel schedule. She plans to hold a campaign event in Atlanta on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the trip who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview an event that has not been publicly announced. The visit will be Harris’s first campaign stop in the battleground state of Georgia as a 2024 presidential candidate.

Although Georgia was once more reliably Republican, the state helped deliver the presidency to Biden in 2020. That year, Georgia voters also elected two Democrats to the Senate.

Maegan Vasquez contributed to this report.