Jane Fonda, who angered many for a 1972 political stunt in protest of the Vietnam War, went door-to-door to campaign for Kamala Harris in Michigan Tuesday.
Kamala for Michigan posted a video featuring the 86-year-old actress greeting a homeowner in Ann Arbor.
In the video, Fonda said, "I've never done it for a president, but this is most important. We have to, have to, have to get [Harris and Walz] elected." She then hugged the resident, who thanked Fonda for the visit.
In the 1970s, critics dubbed Fonda "Hanoi Jane" after she was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft gun during a trip to North Vietnam. During the two-week visit, Fonda claimed American forces had bombed farmland far away from battlefields and went on the radio to plead with American pilots to stop the bombings.
When she returned home, the State Department denounced Fonda, saying, "It is always distressing to find American citizens who benefit from the protection and assistance of this government lending their voice in any way to governments such as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam — distressing indeed."
Congress held hearings, and some lawmakers classified her actions as treason. The Veterans of Foreign Wars sought to have her prosecuted as a traitor, but Fonda continued her activism, openly questioning the U.S. government and the accounts of American prisoners of war.
Fonda has since apologized for the photo, writing in her 2005 memoir "Oh, my God. It's going to look like I was trying to shoot down US planes!"
She said she begged that the photos not be published, adding, "It is possible that the Vietnamese had it all planned. I will never know. If they did, can I really blame them? The buck stops here. If I was used, I allowed it to happen. It was my mistake, and I have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for it."
Some took to social media on Tuesday to call out Fonda for her past. One X user wrote, "Nothing like having the most famous traitor in American history campaign for you."
Another said, "I would have told Hanoi Jane to get off my front doorstep and off my property."
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.