Michael Moore has a critical bone to pick with the Democratic National Convention.
The “Fahrenheit 9/11” director had nothing but praise for last week’s jubilant convention in Chicago, save for its complete lack of Palestinian American voices amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
“Where’s the Palestinian voice on the stage? That was sad,” Moore said Tuesday on the latest episode of his “Rumble” podcast. “The big tent, the big rainbow, everybody allowed in except one group of our fellow Americans. Kind of shameful.”
Moore was among the earliest Democratic pundits to urge President Joe Biden to step down in this year’s presidential election, paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to secure the nomination. But he sharply criticized Harris’ speech at the DNC Thursday.
In her speech, Harris repeatedly affirmed Israel’s “right” and “ability” to defend itself in wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and then seemingly tried to drown out the applause that her acknowledgement of “the suffering in Gaza” spurred.
“She’s trying to cut off the applause and the screaming and the cheering, in favor of the Palestinians and their right to liberty and to life and to their own identity and their own country,” said Moore, “and [the crowd] just kept going — so she had to try to cut them off.”
“She had to say something like, ‘I’m gonna stand up against Iran,’ and … about how pro-military she is,” he continued. “We learned that with Hillary [Clinton], that if you’re a woman running for commander in chief, you better show the country that you got a pair.”
Moore concluded: “Oh my god, please, in my lifetime, make it so that doesn’t happen anymore.”
Robert Gauthier via Getty Images
The director helped organize a protest vote at the Michigan Democratic primary in May where thousands cast “uncommitted” ballots in objection to U.S. military aid for Israel.
Members of the uncommitted movement requested speaking time at the DNC in order to highlight worsening conditions for Palestinians amid the conflict, but ultimately were unsuccessful.
Moore slammed the DNC’s schedule Thursday mere hours before Harris’ speech.
“There’s just one thing that is missing: Not a single word about how you and I as Americans are paying for and providing the bombs to kill over 40,000 Palestinians — over half of them children and the elderly,” he wrote in a Substack post.
Moore wasn’t the only notable name to critique the lack of pro-Palestinian representation. Jon Stewart also called out the glaring absence on “The Daily Show.”
Despite his objections, Moore said Tuesday that he believes Harris can defeat Trump.
“You’re stuck with Kamala Harris,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t think we’ve ever been stuck with anybody this good. She, at 1:46 in the afternoon on July 21st, got thrown into this — but she was ready … Life has given us a happy moment right now. Let’s act on it.”
“Let’s put Trump away for good,” he concluded.
