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Activists pin Harris defeat on her support for genocide in Gaza
Students protest Vice President Kamala Harris in Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley on Election Day, November 5, 2024, in Berkeley, Calif.

ACTIVISTS today pinned the blame for the defeat of US Vice-President Kamala Harris in the presidential election on her support for the continuing genocide in Gaza.

Republican candidate, former president Donald Trump, will take over at the White House for the second time after surpassing the 270 electoral college votes needed to win. 

Republicans also reclaimed control of the Senate. 

Mr Trump, who claimed the election four years ago was stolen from him, sparked a violent insurrection at the US Capitol and was convicted of felony charges, promised in his victory speech to “put our country first” and bring about a “golden age” for the United States.

Mr Trump’s return to the White House has huge global consequences.

The far-right Mr Trump has pledged to ramp up tariffs on Chinese goods and pledged, without saying how, to end the conflicts between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah.

He has also vowed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.

Many activists blame the defeat on the vice-president’s support for the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Writing in the New Arab, journalist Alex Foley said that it was “karma for Kamala,” and that her “refusal to engage with Arab Americans over Gaza has come back to haunt her.”

In a clear protest vote against the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza, Michigan’s Dearborn, the largest majority Arab-American city in the US, backed Mr Trump with a vote of about 47 per cent.

About 27 per cent went for Ms Harris and 21 per cent supported Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

Journalist and activist Afshin Rattansi asked: “Who would have thought perpetrating genocide in Gaza and setting the Middle East on fire was a disastrous move for the Democrats?”

Claudia De la Cruz, the presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said the Democrats had been “actively financing and aiding the expansion of genocide.

“They won’t accept responsibility. They will gaslight and blame others. The people should not fear or back down, we must organise!”

Black Alliance for Peace national organiser Ajamu Baraka, slammed the “self-righteous elitism” of liberals who supported Ms Harris.

He said: “Does anyone really believe that reactionary liberals that blindly give their support to the neoliberal Democrat party will learn anything from this spanking? I don’t think so.”

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