'Uncommitted' movement doesn't endorse Harris, but asks supporters to vote against Trump

September 20th, 2024

FILE - Uncommitted delegates hold a press conference outside the United Center before the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)

The leaders of the “uncommitted” movement, which grew out of Democratic opposition to President Biden’s policy toward Israel and Gaza, will not endorse Vice President Harris for president, but urged supporters to “vote against” former President Donald Trump and “avoid” third-party candidates.

“Harris’s unwillingness to shift on unconditional weapons policy or to even make a clear campaign statement in support of upholding existing U.S. and international human rights law has made it impossible for us to endorse her,” organizers of the Uncommitted National Movement said in a statement.

“At this time, our movement 1) cannot endorse Vice President Harris; 2) opposes a Donald Trump presidency, whose agenda includes plans to accelerate the killing in Gaza while intensifying the suppression of anti-war organizing; and 3) is not recommending a third-party vote in the Presidential election, especially as third party votes in key swing states could help inadvertently deliver a Trump presidency given our country’s broken electoral college system,” the statement continued.

The uncommitted movement grew out of the “Listen to Michigan” campaign ahead of that state’s February presidential primary. Its goal was to send a message to Biden that he needed to do more to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of voters eventually cast uncommitted ballots throughout the Democratic primary in several states.

Organizers’ key demands are for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. When Harris replaced Biden at the top of the ticket, they initially expressed optimism that Harris would be more open to their demands, providing a “window of opportunity.”

But the group was angered when its request to have a Palestinian American speak at the Democratic National Convention was denied. Organizers had also given the Harris campaign a Sept. 15 deadline to respond to requests to meet with Palestinian American families in Michigan who had lost loved ones in Gaza. Abbas Alawieh, a co-founder of the movement, said the campaign’s response was “not satisfactory.”

In a press conference after the announcement, leaders stressed that they are urging voters to “block” a second Trump term. But telling voters who have lost loved ones in Gaza to support Harris, Alawieh said, would be “inappropriate.”

Alawieh called the non-endorsement “something we have to do.”

“We know how dangerous Donald Trump is,” he said. “There was no way, ever, that our movement … would recommend a vote that would specifically help Donald Trump.”

“We said to [disenchanted voters] that the way that we would endorse vice president Harris is if she moved her policy, or if she turned the page to a new approach, and she just hasn’t done that yet,” Alawieh said.

A Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement, “The vice president is committed to work to earn every vote, unite our country, and to be a President for all Americans. She will continue working to bring the war in Gaza to an end in a way where Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”