Harris sticks with Biden on foreign policy — for now

By Axios | Created at 2024-09-29 13:55:57 | Updated at 2024-09-30 05:22:29 16 hours ago

Vice President Harris is backing President Biden's diplomacy-focused strategy in the Middle East as the region moves closer to a wider war — a contrast to the more aggressive strategy Donald Trump is urging.

"She is still the sitting vice president and stands by the administration's policies in the Middle East," a Harris aide said in a statement.

Why it matters: Harris will confront multiple hot wars around the globe if she wins in November, and has shown little daylight between herself and Biden on foreign affairs — except for an occasional nod toward those protesting Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza.

Harris might not keep all of Biden's foreign policy personnel and views if she's elected, but she's mostly signaling continuity — at least for now.
That includes supporting Biden's plan in the Middle East as well as continuing to send arms to Ukraine.

Between the lines: In her two-month-old campaign, Harris hasn't gone into much detail on her positions on many issues, including foreign policy.

She had limited experience on the global stage before her time as vice president.
As the Democratic nominee for president, she occasionally has taken a more hawkish tone than Biden.
She pledged at the Democratic National Convention that the U.S. would always have "the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world."

But she has made some missteps in talking about foreign policy.

During her debate against Trump, Harris boasted that because of Biden's leadership "there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone, in any war zone around the world — first time this century."
That wasn't true. Thousands of U.S. troops are deployed in combat zones.

Flashback: Vice President Hubert Humphrey, running for president to replace the retiring Lyndon Johnson, faced a similar political choice in 1968 over whether to stick with Johnson's controversial policy on Vietnam or create some separation.

Humphrey stayed close to Johnson until late September 1968, when he pledged (with caveats) to end the bombing in North Vietnam — distancing himself from Johnson's handling of the conflict, which was dominating the campaign.

Zoom in: The Biden-Harris approach has been aimed at de-escalating conflicts in the Middle East — but the president has struggled to contain the fighting between Israel, Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

That's led Republicans, including Donald Trump, to call the approach weak and argue it's ultimately prolonged the violence.
While Biden's administration has urged Israel to use more restraint, Trump has called on Israel's government to be more aggressive and "get your victory quickly."

On Ukraine it's been the opposite: Biden and Harris support continuing to send arms to help Ukraine fight back against Russia's invasion. Trump wants Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to cut a deal with Vladamir Putin and end the war.

Trump claims he could end the Ukraine war quickly if he's elected, but won't say how. Biden's administration believes that scenario would involve a deal in which Ukraine would give up territory to Russia — effectively rewarding Putin for invading.

Driving the news: As Israel and Lebanon stepped closer to war this week, the Pentagon announced it was sending an unspecified number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East, joining the roughly 40,000 in the region.

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said: "In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region."
He declined to share specifics given "operational security reasons."

What they're saying: In response to questions about how Harris would handle the conflict, her campaign referred Axios to the vice president's office.

"She has been working closely with President Biden and their national security team to prevent conflict from escalating in the region," the Harris aide said.

Zoom out: Biden has tried for almost a year to stop the war in Gaza from escalating into a wider conflict.