U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump referred to Iran a few times each during their televised debate on Tuesday night. “I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel,” Harris said.
“Iran was broke under Donald Trump. Now Iran has $300 billion because they took off all the sanctions that I had,” Trump said of the Biden administration, including Harris. “Iran had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah or any of the 28 different spheres of terror.”
Mike Pompeo, a former CIA director and former U.S. secretary of state under Trump, noted on Wednesday that Harris didn’t address the former president’s charge.
“One thing that Kamala failed to explain last night: How was it in America’s interest for the Biden-Harris administration to give hundreds of billions to Iran?” Pompeo wrote. “This administration’s appeasement of Iran has led to war, terrorism and put Americans at risk.”
As the debate began, Robert Greenway, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Security, wrote that “Iran would like to remind everyone the Biden-Harris administration has consciously dismantled our deterrence and judges it can attack our forces via proxies with impunity.”
“They have repeatedly done so,” he said.
Harris and Trump received both praise and criticism for their comments about Israel.
“Americans were better off under Donald Trump. From the economy to foreign policy, Kamala Harris’s record is a total disaster,” wrote Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), after the debate ended on Tuesday night.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) wrote during the debate that Harris “does an excellent job of reminding us about the horrific attack on Israel on Oct. 7.”
“I appreciate her commitment to making sure Israel has the tools to defend itself,” he wrote.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) wrote mid-debate that “the first thing Kamala did as a nominee was boycott Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.”
“Now she’s pushing for a ceasefire just to get the pro-Hamas protestors off her back,” he wrote. “Does that sound like an ally of Israel?”
Democratic Majority for Israel stated during the debate that Harris “is and has always been a steadfast supporter of Israel. She made that very clear tonight, and we are proud to support her.”
“Only one candidate said the word ‘hostage’ on last night’s debate stage,” it added on Wednesday. “Only one candidate reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas terrorists. That candidate was Kamala Harris.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition wrote that “Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have undermined the U.S.-Israel relationship to unprecedented lows.”
“Forcing a two-state solution on Israel now—after Oct. 7—would be a reward for the terrorists,” the RJC said. “She would be a total disaster as commander-in-chief.”