A national pro-Palestinian organization on Thursday said it won’t endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, urging people to vote uncommitted in the presidential election.
The Uncommitted National Movement formed this year in protest of the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The group sent a message to Mr. Biden when he was running for the Democratic nomination by organizing hundreds of thousands of uncommitted votes in the primaries.
The organization, which launched in Michigan, issued its latest announcement on the same day Ms. Harris is set to travel to the state for a campaign event with Oprah Winfrey.
In a lengthy statement, the group said it couldn’t endorse Ms. Harris, even as it opposes former President Donald Trump, and encouraged supporters not to vote for a third party because that could boost him.
“For months, we have urged Vice President Harris to shift her Gaza policy so we could mobilize voters in key states to save lives and our democracy,” the group said. “The [Democratic National Convention] and vice president’s campaign fumbled even a small gesture to unite our party ahead of November by rejecting the simple request for a Palestinian American speaker.”
“Now the vice president’s campaign is courting Dick Cheney while sidelining disillusioned anti-war voices,” the group said.
The Uncommitted National Movement made it clear it’s not a fan of Mr. Trump, who it says would “accelerate the killing in Gaza while intensifying the suppression of anti-war organizing.”
“We urge Uncommitted voters to register anti-Trump votes and vote up and down the ballot. Our focus remains on building a broad anti-war coalition both inside and outside the Democratic Party,” the statement said.
The Uncommitted National Movement has remained a factor in Michigan, a swing state with a large population of Arab Americans.
The group said it made the decision not to back Ms. Harris after her campaign didn’t respond to its request to meet with Palestinian Americans who have lost loved ones in Gaza. It had given Ms. Harris a Sept. 15 deadline for an answer.
The latest polling from FiveThirtyEight has Ms. Harris up 2 points in Michigan.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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