by Fred Fleitz
Although America’s ferociously anti-Trump media refuses to admit it, there is a powerful group of people who cannot vote in the U.S. presidential election but are rooting for Kamala Harris to win: the leaders of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, terrorist groups, and other U.S. adversaries.
America’s adversaries took full advantage over the past three years of a sharp decline in American global influence and deterrence. This resulted in new wars and massive terrorist attacks, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a surge in provocations and threats by China against Taiwan and in the South China Sea, the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre against Israel, a new 7-front war against Israel, a dangerous increase in Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and major gains in its nuclear weapons program, a huge increase in North Korean missile tests, 11 million illegal migrants crossing our southern border, and other threats.
On top of this, a dangerous new Russia-China-Iran-North Korea axis began during the Biden years. Russia and China greatly strengthened their diplomatic, military, and economic ties. Iran has been providing Russia with missiles and drones for the Russian military to use in the war in Ukraine. North Korea has provided Russia with missiles, ammunition, and troops for this war. Russia has provided North Korea with missile technology. China, Russia, and Iran have held joint military exercises. There are reports these states may also hold a military exercise with North Korea.
However, despite the deterioration of the U.S.-led global order since 2021, America’s adversaries see even greater opportunities to exploit U.S. weakness under a Kamala Harris presidency.
There are two reasons for this. One reason is that the damage Joe Biden could do to U.S. national security was limited because many of President Trump’s successful national security policies were difficult for Biden to cancel or roll back. For example, the historic Abraham Accords, which normalized Israel’s relations with four Arab states, survived the Biden years despite President Biden’s inept, anti-Israel policies. The Biden administration wanted to move the U.S. embassy in Israel out of Jerusalem and create a consulate in Jerusalem for Palestinians but was thwarted by opposition from Israeli officials and members of Congress. Although Biden criticized the Trump administration’s sanctions against Iran and tariffs against China during the 2020 presidential campaign, he kept most of them in place.
Similarly, although Biden strongly condemned Trump’s withdrawal from the disastrous 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and could have rejoined it with the stroke of a pen, Biden instead unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran. This isn’t to say Biden’s policies to appease Iran and not enforce U.S. oil sanctions were not terrible—they were. But they could have been much worse.
A second reason is that despite the weakness of Joe Biden’s global leadership driven by his mental decline and opportunistic shifts to the left, Biden has decades of foreign policy experience from his time on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He served as chairman of this committee. Biden, sometimes moderate, occasionally sided with Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee. He also strongly supported Israel. Although as a senator, Biden was notorious for grandstanding and talking too much, he served for 36 years and was an influential member of the Senate.
These factors—the staying power of President Trump’s national security policies and President Biden’s residual national security knowledge, Senate leadership, and moderation—acted as guardrails for Biden’s national security policies, limiting the damage they could cause.
If Kamala Harris wins the 2024 presidential election, there will be no such guardrails on her foreign policy. Harris is more radical than Bernie Sanders, and she would not have any residual foreign policy experience or leadership to rely on as president.
Moreover, as I explained in my August 16th American Greatness article, “Ominous Signs of What US Middle East Policy Might Be Under a Harris Presidency,” Harris has been called “the most outspokenly anti-Israel member of the administration” and has hired two anti-Israel radicals as foreign policy advisors.
Making this worse, Kamala Harris proved to be vapid, unserious, and unable to handle adversarial press interviews during her time as vice president and presidential candidate. Even many of Harris’s recent interviews with friendly reporters have been train wrecks. She has been widely mocked for “word salad” answers to press questions and an inability to speak coherently without a teleprompter.
America’s adversaries therefore believe a Harris presidency will be far weaker, less principled, and easier to manipulate than Biden’s. Chinese President Xi and Russian President Putin realize that if Harris fears tough interviews with the American media, she will be putty in their hands.
This means the foreign policy of a Harris presidency could be a catastrophe and cause irreversible damage to global security. China may decide that her term is the perfect time to invade Taiwan and use its navy to seize control of the South China Sea. North Korea would probably conduct an eighth nuclear test. Iran might conduct its first nuclear test, which could set off a full-fledged Israel-Iran War. There would also likely be an increase in terrorist attacks, many funded by Iran. Illegal immigration would explode across the U.S. southern border because a Harris administration would do nothing to stop it.
Russia might escalate the war in Ukraine and invade Georgia and Moldova. The China-Russia-Iran-North Korea axis would further develop and help advance China’s effort to create a new reserve currency to displace the U.S. dollar. U.S. relations with Israel would deteriorate further, especially since a Harris administration likely would recognize a Palestinian state and vote to make it a full member of the United Nations.
On the other hand, American adversaries desperately do not want to see Donald Trump return to the White House and are reportedly meddling in the 2024 presidential election to prevent this from happening. They fear that Trump would reestablish strong American leadership and deterrence that would sharply curtail their global influence and ambitions. Xi and Putin know Trump would be difficult to negotiate with and fear his unpredictability. Trump would drive a hard bargain with Putin and Ukrainian President Zelinsky to end the war in Ukraine. He also could break up the Russia-China-Iran-North Korea axis. Russia and China also probably believe that Trump would move quickly to repair frayed U.S. relations with Israel and the Persian Gulf states and reverse the significant gains in relations they made with these states during the Biden administration.
In Kamala Harris, America’s adversaries see a U.S. president who would be substantially weaker and more incompetent than Joe Biden, whom they could easily manipulate and defy to destroy the U.S.-led global order. In Donald Trump, they see the return of a strong American president who will use peace through strength policies to restore American leadership, deterrence, and global stability.
The leaders of America’s adversaries cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections. But you can. Based on what is at stake for U.S. and global security, your choice is clear.
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Fred Fleitz previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, CIA analyst, and a House Intelligence Committee staff member.
Photo “Kamala Harris” by Kamala Harris.
