Harris is trying to turn the Gaza protests into a way to energize the crowds at his rallies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Protesters could create awkward moments for presidential candidates. They interrupt, interrupt, and often lead the candidate astray.

But Vice President Kamala Harris is trying a new strategy late in the campaign to turn what would otherwise be awkward interactions into moments of energy used to rally her supporters and subtly steer her message against her Republican opponent Donald Trump.

At all three of the Democratic nominee’s rallies on Wednesday – in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – pro-Palestinian protesters burst into chants, banners and even whistles to criticize Harris for her and President Joe Biden’s handling of the war between Israel. and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Protesters in Gaza have long pursued events between Harris and Biden when he was still the party’s nominee, hoping to use the unrest to draw media attention to their cause. They often led to long pauses while security officers dispersed demonstrators or created uncomfortable interactions.

After three months as a candidate and as she tries to stick to her carefully honed final message in the final week of the campaign, Harris’ latest tactic is aimed at validating protesters’ fears and using them as evidence in her case against former candidate. president.

When a protester in North Carolina shouted that Harris was “disrespectful to the Palestinian community,” Harris used the moment to attack Trump.

“The fact of the matter is, we know we are really fighting for democracy,” Harris said in Raleigh. “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with you are the enemy.”

Hours later in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harris used a similar pro-democracy protest.

“Look, I’ll say it again: we fight for democracy, we love our democracy,” she said. “It can be difficult sometimes, but it’s the best system in the world.”

As she faced protests late in the night in Wisconsin, Harris used a familiar reference to what she said when then-Vice President Mike Pence tried to interrupt her during their 2020 debate.

“We all want the war in Gaza to end and the hostages to be freed, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that is heard and known,” Harris said. “And everyone has the right to be heard, but now I’m speaking.”

Moments at each stop energized large crowds at Harris events, drowning out protesters and becoming a way for her supporters to come together.

In Wisconsin, the reaction was so loud and prolonged that a second group with a banner was unable to disrupt the event.

Even though Wednesday’s protests were muted, some pro-Palestinian figures opposed to Harris believe her focus on democracy and acknowledgment that protesters have a right to be heard is a softening on the part of the Democratic nominee.

“It’s nice that her rhetoric has softened, but the time for that has passed,” said Dearborn City Councilman Mustapha Hammoud. “Instead of peace, we see an increase in violence during war. That’s why we can’t accept talk, we need real results.” Hamoud told The Associated Press in September that until recently he considered himself a Democrat.

Protests pose an occupational hazard for presidential candidates.

In 2016, Trump responded to a protest in Nevada by saying, “I’d like to punch him in the face.” That same year, Hillary Clinton was regularly protested by Black Lives Matter activists, including at one event when protesters silenced her for 10 minutes and forced Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, to ask the group to stop. And in 2020, after Biden won the state’s Super Tuesday primary, anti-dairy protesters stormed the scene, forcing Jill Biden to defend her husband, alienating activists.

“I’m a good girl from Philadelphia,” Jill Biden told reporters after the confrontation.

Harris, unlike Biden, has taken a more confrontational stance toward protesters since winning the Democratic nomination earlier this year.

When a group of pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted her at an August event, chanting, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide,” Harris responded bluntly: “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say it. Otherwise I say.”

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Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Mike Householder in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.