Kamala Harris appeared unprepared to deliver prepared remarks and answer questions competently during a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday, laughing inappropriately at times, and offering incoherent word salad answers to questions.
Harris was sent to Poland to mop up after a very public communication breakdown between Polish leaders and U.S. leaders over efforts to send fighter jets to Kyiv.
Poland proposed putting the planes under U.S. custody at a U.S. base in Germany for later transfer to Ukraine as the U.S. saw fit. The plan was a nonstarter for the Biden administration, which seeks to avoid becoming a direct or indirect combatant in Putin’s war.
“We do not support the transfer of additional fighter aircraft to the Ukrainian air force at this time and therefore have no desire to see them in our custody, either,” Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday, putting the nail in the coffin of a plan the Polish government announced Tuesday. He said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had conveyed that brusque message directly to Poland’s defense minister.
During the presser with Duda, Kamala dished out an an awkward word salad that suggested she had no idea that Poland is one of four countries on NATO’s eastern flank.
“I am here, standing here on the northern flank, on the eastern flank, talking about what we have in terms of the eastern flank and our NATO allies, and what is at stake at this very moment, what is at stake this very moment are some of the guiding principles around the NATO alliance,” she stammered
KAMALA HARRIS: "I am here, standing here on the northern flank, on the eastern flank, talking about what we have in terms of the eastern flank and our NATO allies, and what is at stake at this very moment, what is at stake this very moment are some of the guiding principles…" pic.twitter.com/QOsMKRTRsQ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 10, 2022
Harris later expressed outrage over the Russian bombing of a maternity hospital in Ukraine, and said the UN has “set up a process” to investigate the war crime.
“The UN has set up a process by which there will be a review, and investigations, and we will of course participate as appropriate and necessary,” she said.
She proceeded to elaborate with another rambling, stream-of-consciousness word-salad.
But we all watched the television coverage of just yesterday on top of everything else that we know and don’t know yet based on what we’ve just able to see, and because we’ve seen it or not doesn’t mean it hasn’t happen, but just limited to what we have seen—pregnant women going for health care? Being injured by—I don’t know—a missile, a bomb? In an unprovoked, unjustified war? Where a powerful country is trying to take over another country—violate its sovereignty, its territorial integrity for the sake of what? Nothing that is justified or provoked. Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching, and I have no question the eyes of the world are on this war, and what Russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities. I have no doubt.”
Imagine being the Polish translator that has to interpret this Kamala Harris nightmare soup pic.twitter.com/SnekyOOZEa
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 10, 2022
Toward the end of the press conference, she was asked a challenging question about the plight of Ukrainian refugees on the Polish border. Harris flipped through her notes nervously, and appeared to look to Duda for help.
The reporter said that according to her colleague, the Polish refugee system might collapse because it’s “an improvised system” that can only work for “maybe two weeks, but not indefinitely.”
“I’m wondering what the United States is going to do more specifically to set up a permanent infrastructure and, relatedly, is the United States willing to make a special allocation for Ukrainian refugees?” the reporter asked Harris. She then asked Duda if he had specifically asked the U.S. to accept more refugees.
Harris looked over at Duda, and nervously said, “okay ,” adding “a friend in need is a friend in deed,” and laughing hysterically at her own joke. Duda valiantly offered to answer the question first.
Only Kamala Harris would find it appropriate to laugh when talking about the topic of Ukrainian Refugees.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 10, 2022
Critics on social media have blasted Harris for making light of the desperate situation while air raid sirens were literally going off in Kiev.
Not quite sure what’s so damn funny. There are hundreds of thousands of people sleeping on floors and cots in makeshift shelters right now here at the Polish border. https://t.co/6dtTQDzw1k
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyDillon) March 10, 2022
Duda told reporters that he had asked Harris to help Ukrainian refugees obtain U.S. visas more quickly so they can stay with family in the States.
Harris later said she understood that the 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees who have crossed the border into Poland presented an “unprecedented” challenge” to Poland in another rambling word salad of an answer.
“The United States is absolutely prepared to do what we can and what we must to support Poland in terms of the burden they have taken on that I think all of us who understand the moral obligation we should feel to help people who are fleeing harm and seeking refuge—the burden we should all be prepared to take on to support those people who are fleeing their home and they don’t want to leave,” she said.
“In terms of what we are doing in the United States, we will then take this in terms of what we can do to support and look at those Ukrainians who want to come to the United States. What we are seeing thus far is large parts of that population who are fleeing Ukraine who desire to stay in Europe,” Harris added.
A Fox News reporter ripped Harris’ performance at the presser, calling it “detached from the reality on the ground.”
“We heard this diplomatic and political speak from Vice President Harris. The Ukrainian people don’t need that,” he said.
Fox News’ @TreyYingst rips Kamala Harris' speech as "detached from the reality on the ground."
"We heard this diplomatic and political speak from Vice President Harris. The Ukrainian people don’t need that." pic.twitter.com/3X2Y8pqJot
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 10, 2022
Only yesterday CNN reporter Chris Cillizza speculated in a post that Harris’ trip to Poland could be her “moment.”
“This sort of tricky international diplomacy at a moment of crisis for Europe and the world is when (and how) leaders are made. If Harris can find a way through this fraught period with Poland, as well as the ongoing push by Ukraine for a no-fly zone, it would amount to a major win — not just for the Biden administration, but for Harris in particular,” Cillizza wrote.