Vice President Kamala Harris appeared to do a little damage control on Sunday, posting a tweet on Twitter that paid tribute to members of the military just a day after what many considered a tone deaf post.
“Throughout our history our service men and women have risked everything to defend our freedoms and our country. As we prepare to honor them on Memorial Day, we remember their service and their sacrifice,” Harris wrote in the Sunday post.
Throughout our history our service men and women have risked everything to defend our freedoms and our country. As we prepare to honor them on Memorial Day, we remember their service and their sacrifice.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 30, 2021
On Saturday, the vice president posted a photo of herself smiling, writing simply: “Enjoy the long weekend.”
Enjoy the long weekend. pic.twitter.com/ilGOrod4AW
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 29, 2021
Social media exploded with outrage after Harris’ Saturday tweet.
“Real misfire here. It is a long weekend. It’s also Memorial Day weekend, which means far more that our government officials should acknowledge: a time to remember and honor the millions of Americans who lost their lives in our nation’s defense,” Paul Szoldra, editor of military news site Task & Purpose, wrote on Twitter.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) finished Harris’s short sentence by writing: “… and pay tribute to the courageous men and women of our nation’s military who sacrificed their lives in defense of our freedoms and liberties.”
“Care to mention WHY we’re having a long weekend, Kamala?” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) wrote.
Others were more harsh.
“No pictures of our Fallen hero’s, just which angle do I look best in? Narcissistic @VP. PS when do you think you could get to our border crisis? Maybe over the ‘Long Weekend’ would be a good time?” one Twitterer wrote.
“This is my Uncle Walter, Madame Vice President,” wrote another person. “He won’t be enjoying the ‘long weekend’ because he was KIA at Peleliu in September 1944, advancing with his fellow Marines to take the island’s airfield. Obliterated by an enemy artillery shell. He had just turned 18.”
@GrayConnolly This is my Uncle Walter, Madame Vice President. He won't be enjoying the "long weekend" because he was KIA at Peleliu in September 1944, advancing with his fellow Marines to take the island's airfield. Obliterated by an enemy artillery shell. He had just turned 18. pic.twitter.com/8SsqsJoRXQ
— natehale (on Gab @Nate_Hale) (@natehale) May 30, 2021
Another posted a tribute to his father. “I pulled this from my dad’s WWII memoir. He was a Marine. Maybe instead of a glamor shot of herself, she can tweet just one photo of soldier, sailor, airman or marine who died in combat? Maybe honor the fallen instead of herself? Maybe too much to ask.”
I pulled this from my dad's WWII memoir. He was a Marine.
Maybe instead of a glamor shot of herself, she can tweet just one photo of soldier, sailor, airman or marine who died in combat?
Maybe honor the fallen instead of herself? Maybe too much to ask. pic.twitter.com/SEmxLxqqXt— JimThompson (@JimmySportToons) May 30, 2021
Air National Guard Lt. Colonel Adam Kinzinger blasted her tweet as “tone deaf.” “Enjoy your freedom purchased by many who died for it. Tone deaf,” he tweeted.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, press secretary for former President Donald Trump, said that even her seven-year-old son “understands what this weekend is about.”
“Show some respect for the heroes who paid the ultimate price for our freedom,” she tweeted.
Not everyone was assuaged by Harris’ Sunday tweet.
“I thought it was a ‘long weekend’ to you?????? Don’t pretend you care about our military or those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country,” one person wrote.
Joseph Curl covered the White House for a dozen years and ran the Drudge Report for four years. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter at @JosephCurl.