Kamala Harris, Pelosi Boycotting Netanyahu Speech

Vice President Kamala Harris, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and dozens of other Capitol Hill lawmakers won't be present for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Wednesday before a joint meeting of Congress.

Harris, who would as vice president have presided over the joint congressional session, will be on the campaign trail in Indiana, where she is speaking at a previously scheduled event in Indianapolis, reported The Telegraph.

Harris is scheduled to meet privately with Netanyahu on Thursday, but her decision to skip his speech to Congress has angered several Israeli officials, given her status as the presumptive Democratic Party nominee.

"The decision of Harris to boycott the speech of the Prime Minister of Israel during a difficult war against Iran and its terror proxies is disappointing," an official told The Telegraph. "The free world cannot afford leaders who are unable to distinguish between good and evil."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Wednesday slammed Harris and other Democrats for skipping out on the speech, noting that the event was scheduled in June, giving Harris plenty of time to change her schedule.

"I am absolutely stunned and profoundly disappointed that the Vice President of the United States has decided to boycott participating in this particular speech," Cornyn said on the Senate floor. "Eight of the current hostages are American citizens, and the Vice President can't be bothered to show up? It's disgraceful."

Cornyn added that Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill, is also boycotting the speech.

"I think it's absolutely disgraceful that the most senior members of the Democratic Party have chosen to give the Heisman to one of our closest allies in the Middle East," Cornyn said. "It's pandering to the most radical elements of the Democratic base."

Durbin said in a statement that he will boycott the speech because "Israel’s execution of its war in Gaza under the direction of Prime Minister Netanyahu with 39,000 Palestinians dead and 90,000 injured is a brutal strategy beyond any acceptable level of self-defense."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., will preside over the address in Harris' place, along with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., would have taken Harris' place, as she is the president pro tempore of the Senate. However, NBC News reported that Murray is boycotting Netanyahu's address for ideological reasons.

Meanwhile, a Pelosi spokesperson said that she will not attend the joint meeting or the Netanyahu speech, instead choosing to join members who are meeting "with Israeli citizens whose families have suffered in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack and kidnappings," reported Axios.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate, will miss the speech because of his "duties to fulfill as the Republican nominee for vice president," a campaign official confirmed to NBC News.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a libertarian isolationist, also said on X that he is boycotting the speech.

"The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel," Massie wrote. "I don't feel like being a prop so I won't be attending."

Several of the others who have said they are skipping the speech and boycotting Netanyahu, however, said they will be attending the meeting with Pelosi and the hostage families or will attend a panel on peace and security in the Middle East.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., condemned the speech Tuesday on the Senate floor, calling Netanyahu a "war criminal," reported The Guardian.

"Tomorrow will be unique in bringing Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress," he said. "It will be the first time in American history that a war criminal has been given that honor."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said she will boycott the speech because of Netanyahu's actions in the war in Gaza, as will Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., reported The New York Post.

Netanyahu, in addition to meeting with Biden and Harris on Thursday and Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday, will meet Wednesday with Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Jeffries.

Others who are boycotting the speech include Rep. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., and Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., reported Axios.

Cohen said he's boycotting the speech because of Netanyahu's plan to meet with Trump, as he "just thought that was too much."

Balint said she's boycotting the speech because it will "serve as a distraction from the Prime Minister's failure of leadership."