Republican senators slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for skipping Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's congressional address on Wednesday, calling her absence "disgraceful" and a dereliction of her role as vice president.
Harris, who would normally preside over the Senate during a joint-session address, instead opted to attend an event at the Zeta Phi Beta sorority's national conference, where she gave a politically charged speech promoting the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness policy and accusing Republicans of "trying to take us backward" and "return America to a dark past."
Netanyahu was invited to address a joint session of Congress by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), but many Democrats have chosen to boycott the speech to express opposition to Israel's war against the terrorist group Hamas.
"The Vice President of the United States doesn't have the common courtesy to even show up," Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) said at a press conference on Wednesday. "Disgraceful. She ought to be embarrassed."
Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.) said it was "disturbing that Vice President Harris has opted not to preside over this event."
"Here we have our greatest ally in the Middle East, and a crucial security partner, coming and testifying or speaking to the United States Congress, and she can't be there," he said.
Sen. Ted Budd (R., N.C.) accused Harris of "not doing her constitutional duties" by skipping the speech.
"I don't think that snubbing our Middle East ally does what we need to do to stop the Hamas terrorists," he said. "Let's remember 292 days ago, these same Hamas terrorists, they committed horrific acts of barbarism."
During her speech, the vice president praised the administration's policies on student loan debt relief, support for gun control, and opposition to voter ID laws.
"If you or anyone you know benefited from [student loan forgiveness], please testify," she told the crowd.
In addition to Harris, a number of Democrats said they would skip or protest the Israeli leader's visit, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), and Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.).
Tlaib called on Democrats to protest Netanyahu's speech, saying on Tuesday that it is "utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court."