washington – Protesters could create awkward moments for presidential candidates. They interrupt the candidate, pressure him, and often lead him astray.

But Vice President Kamala Harris is trying a new strategy late in the campaign to turn otherwise awkward interactions into moments of energy used to galvanize her supporters and subtly steer her message against her Republican rival Donald Trump.

At all three rallies held by the Democratic candidate on Wednesday North Carolina, Pennsylvania And Wisconsin – Pro-Palestinian protesters entered chanting, holding signs and even whistling, criticizing Harris and President Joe Biden for her handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Gaza protesters He had been targeting Harris’ activities for a long timeAnd While Biden is still the party’s nomineeThey hope to use these disturbances to draw media attention to their cause. Security officers often caused lengthy pauses as they removed demonstrators or created disruptive interactions.

After three months as a candidate and trying to stick to her carefully honed closing message in the final week of the campaign, Harris’ latest tactic aims to both validate protesters’ concerns and use them as a proof point in her lawsuit against the former candidate. minister.

When a protester in North Carolina shouted that Harris was “disrespecting the Palestinian community,” Harris used the moment to attack Trump.

“That’s the thing, we know we’re actually fighting for democracy,” Harris said in Raleigh. “Unlike Donald Trump, I do not believe that people who disagree with you are enemies.”

Hours later in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harris used a similar protest to embrace democracy.

“Look, I repeat, we fight for democracy, we love our democracy,” he said. “It can be complicated sometimes, but it’s the best system in the world.”

When Harris faced protests at the end of her night in Wisconsin, she used a familiar callback to what she said when she tried to interrupt then-Vice President Mike Pence during the 2020 debate.

“We all want the war in Gaza to end and the hostages to be removed, and I will do everything I can to make sure that is heard and known,” Harris said. “And everyone has the right to be heard, but right now I am speaking.”

The moments at each stop energized the large crowds at Harris’ events, quelling protesters and becoming a way for her supporters to rally.

In Wisconsin, the response was so loud and sustained that a second group carrying banners was not loud enough to disrupt the event.

Although the protests were quelled on Wednesday, some pro-Palestinian critics of Harris see her focus on democracy and acknowledgment that protesters have the right to be heard as a softening of the Democratic nominee.

Dearborn City Council member Mustapha Hammoud said, “It’s good that he’s softening his rhetoric, but it’s past time.” “In the war, we saw an increase in violence instead of peace. “So we can’t accept talk, we need real results.” In September, Hammoud told The Associated Press that until recently he considered himself a Democrat.

Protests are an occupational hazard for presidential candidates.

Trump in 2016 responded to a protest Saying “I’d like to punch you in the face” in Nevada. That same year, Hillary Clinton was regularly protested by Black Lives Matter activists. an event Protesters choked him for 10 minutes, forcing Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, to ask the group to stop. And in 2020, after Biden won state primaries on Super Tuesday, anti-dairy industry protesters stormed the stagepushes activists aside, forcing Jill Biden to protect her husband.

“I’m a good Philly girl,” Jill Biden told reporters after the shooting.

Harris, unlike Biden, has taken a more confrontational tone toward protesters since winning the Democratic nomination earlier this year.

When she was interrupted at an event in August by a group of pro-Palestinian protesters chanting “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide,” Harris responded directly: “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say this. I’m speaking otherwise.”

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Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Mike Household in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.