MUNICH (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris warned Friday about the dangers of growing authoritarianism and isolationism, offering a not-so-veiled rejection of Donald Trump's worldview and threatening to forego security guarantees for NATO allies if he returns to the White House.
In his speech at the Munich Security Conference, Harris comprehensively defended the Biden administration's approach to addressing global challenges, particularly leading international support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Her comments came at a time when Ukraine risks losing U.S. support due to dysfunction in Congress and the positions taken by Trump and many of his supporters.
Amid an atmosphere of deep fear at the conference, punctuated Friday by news of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death in prison, Harris said the United States would not waver in supporting democracy and multilateralism and defending international rules and norms tries to undermine them.
“Isolation is not isolation,” she said. “In fact, threats have only grown as America has isolated itself. In these troubled times, it is clear that America cannot retreat. America must stand strong for democracy. We must defend international rules and norms and stand with our allies.”
“However, there are some in the United States who disagree,” she said. “They suggest that it is in the best interests of the American people to isolate ourselves from the world, disregard the common understanding of nations, accept dictators and adopt repressive tactics, and abandon commitments to our allies in favor of unilateral action.”
“Let me be clear: This worldview is dangerous, destabilizing and actually short-sighted,” Harris said, without mentioning Trump by name. “This view would weaken America and undermine global stability and prosperity. President Biden and I therefore reject this view.”
Previously, UN chief Antonio Guterres gave a clear and gloomy assessment of the current situation in the world, lamenting not only the war in Ukraine, but also the current situation in Gaza, where Israel is apparently ready to launch a major operation against Hamas Start in the southern city of Rafah.
“It is clear that our world is in great trouble,” Guterres said. “Global governance in its current form deepens divisions and fuels discontent.”
“Today we see countries doing what they want without having to be held accountable. Impunity seems to be the be-all and end-all,” he said, referring in particular to the war in Ukraine.
Harris expressed many of the same concerns, and her comments were peppered with outspoken criticism of Trump and his allies. Earlier this month, Trump caused a chill in Europe when he said he would not work to defend NATO allies that fail to meet their defense spending commitments.
Harris said the Biden administration's “sacred commitment to NATO remains ironclad.”
“Imagine if America turned its back on Ukraine and abandoned our NATO allies and our treaty obligations. Imagine if we went easy on Putin (Russian President Vladimir), let alone encouraged him.”