Vice President Kamala Harris shut down anti-abortion hecklers during a La Crosse, Wisconsin rally on Thursday, making a dig at former President Donald Trump’s crowd sizes in the process.
Harris was speaking about former President Donald Trump’s “hand-selection” of three justices to the Supreme Court — noting that those Trump appointees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade — when she was interrupted by a handful of hecklers screaming “that’s a lie.”
“Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally,” Harris joked with a wave. “No, I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.”
Kamala Harris as a demonstrator is escorted out: "Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street." pic.twitter.com/QckCkA5RWS
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 17, 2024
The jab is one that's known to get through Trump's defenses, as the former president has repeatedly shown himself to be sensitive about the size of the crowd he draws. Trump has obsessed over crowd sizes since his inauguration day, repeatedly claiming he had the best-attended swearing-in in history, in spite of photo evidence to the contrary.
Harris has made crowd size a go-to attack on the famously thin-skinned ex-president. Former President Barack Obama took aim at Trump's infatuation with attendance during the Democratic National Convention, using his hands to turn his remark into a somewhat risqué joke. Harris' campaign turned that moment into an attack ad.
Harris running mate Tim Walz has tossed barbs over crowd enthusiasm at rallies and Harris herself brought up his dwindling rallygoer enthusiasm at the pair’s presidential debate last month.
Harris' quick response is an improvement over previous times she's been interrupted. The vice president drew criticism for how she handled pro-Palestine hecklers at an August rally. The vice president took a harsh tone with those demonstrators, responding, “I’m speaking.”
