Seattle crowd at Kamala Harris book tour goes wild after Mamdani’s NYC win

Seattleites filled Benaroya Hall to hear Harris share her version of the events that defined the 2024 race. The evening opened with Angela Rye, host of The Native Land Podcast, celebrating socialist victories in blue states across the country. The audience erupted when Rye announced that socialist Zohran Mamdani had won the New York City mayoral race.

Washington’s Democratic Attorney General Nick Brown, known for leading many lawsuits against the Trump administration, was introduced early in the program and received a standing ovation.

Harris, quoting almost verbatim from 107 Days, recounted the phone call she received from then-President Joe Biden announcing he would drop out of the race. Then said "The most difficult chapter I wrote in the book was about election night."

Throughout the evening, Harris and the audience chanted her familiar campaign mantra, “When we fight, we win.” Without directly naming Trump, Harris sharply criticized his leadership, claiming she had “predicted everything” that would unfold under his administration, except for “the capitulation” of corporate leaders who “bent the knee.”

Addressing the ongoing Democratic shutdown, Harris accused Trump of neglecting the American people: “The man is allowing for babies to starve in America while he’s building a gilded ballroom for his rich friends at the White House.” It is Harris' Democrat Party that has refused to allow the government to continue operating.

She noted, “One-third voted for him, one-third voted for us, and one-third didn’t vote. Two-thirds of the country did not vote for this.”

When asked about a congressional resolution condemning the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the Democrats who refused to support it, Harris delivered one of her characteristic word salad answers. She spoke about “racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia,” saying, “It’s always been here,” and emphasized the importance of “having difficult conversations” rather than ignoring hate.

Despite the enthusiastic crowd, the event was repeatedly disrupted by anti-Israel and communist activists who accused Harris of genocide. Dozens of protesters, including communist activists, assembled outside the event to chant and heckle attendees. Some of them appeared to have purchased tickets to gain entry, interrupting Harris multiple times during the first 45 minutes of the event.

After the first outburst, Rye declared, “In the words of Maxine Waters, I am reclaiming my time.”

As disruptions continued, audience members themselves began helping security physically remove protesters, earning applause from the rest of the hall. The crowd booed and cursed the activists, with some calling them “deranged” and worse. Rye dismissed the demonstrators as “not strategic,” saying their impression of Harris “is not who I know her to be.”

Eventually, Harris addressed the war in Gaza earlier than planned, acknowledging the protesters’ outbursts. She criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration’s peace plan, and the US response to the conflict, reiterating debunked claims of “starvation” and “famine” in Gaza. Harris did not criticize Hamas or mention the Palestinian terrorists' brutal massacre of over 1,200 Israelis that started the conflict.

She then expressed regret over her role in the administration’s handling of the crisis: “We should have done more as an administration. We should have spoken publicly about our criticism of how Netanyahu and his government were executing this war. We had more leverage than we used.”

She continued, “I’m happy there’s a ceasefire, but let’s be clear, the inhumanity of what has happened to the Palestinian people, the innocent civilians, the hunger and the suffering, these are things we must acknowledge.”

Harris referenced her earlier remarks at the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the war, claiming she had faced internal opposition from the Biden administration for publicly condemning the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“I understand the emotion behind those who have spoken out tonight,” she said. “We have work to do to ensure the rebuilding of Gaza, the security of the region, and the future of governance there.”

She urged attendees to “read the book if you want to understand how I truly feel.”