Vice President Kamala Harris has stayed out of the headlines lately. Since November, the name “Kamala Harris” has been appearing less and less often in Google searches.
However, Harris has still been going viral… just not with American audiences.
On Wednesday, appeared on the U.S. State Department’s Persian account. She appeared to bash the U.S. in front of an Iranian audience — for America’s “injustice.”
“@VP: The truth is: There is segregation in America. Xenophobia exists in America. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, all exist. Wherever injustice is dealt with, there is activity ahead,” the account tweeted, according to the translator service at the National Review.
The account has been verified by Twitter. According to Twitter’s translating service, the account t says in its bio, “The US Department of State’s Persian Twitter posts the views of the US government,” according to Twitter’s translating service.
Take a look —
.@VP: حقیقت این است: تبعیض نژادی در آمریکا وجود دارد. بیگانه ستیزی در آمریکا وجود دارد. یهود ستیزی، اسلام هراسی، همجنسگرا هراسی، ترنس هراسی، همه وجود دارند. رسیدگی به بی عدالتی هرکجا که باشد، فعالیت پیش روست. pic.twitter.com/mF14nwl9CZ
— USAbehFarsi (@USABehFarsi) February 16, 2022
Of course, the U.S. does suffer from some social ills. But the vice president defining the country she helps run as hateful is beyond strange — and it’s a false equivalency between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic of Iran, a country known worldwide for its abysmal record on civil liberties and human rights.
Plus, Harris’ statement came at an unstable time in Iran-U.S. relations.
In 2016, former President Barack Obama lifted most of America’s longstanding sanctions on Iran. The previous year, he struck a deal to hamper Iran’s nuclear ambitions, despite criticism for giving Tehran too many concessions.
Former President Donald Trump nixed Obama’s controversial deal in 2018, and he reimposed the sanctions.
President Joe Biden has kept these sanctions in place. Meanwhile, Biden’s State Secretary Anthony Blinken has endorsed a new nuclear deal that he said would be “longer and stronger” than Obama’s.
Blinken has yet to draft such a deal. Still, he has remained optimistic. He said at a press conference last year, “With regard to Iran, we have been very clear that the path to diplomacy is open.”
On the flip side, Harris seems too pessimistic about the work to do here in the States.
The Horn editorial team