Vice President Kamala Harris was slammed Thursday for breaking into inappropriate laughter after she was asked whether the US will take in Ukrainian refugees — leading Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former press secretary to say it would be a “tragedy” if she ever became president.
The awkward moment took place during a joint press conference with Harris and Poland President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.
The two leaders had been asked about the US accepting Ukrainian refugees or otherwise easing pressure on Poland’s strained humanitarian resources. When the reporter stopped speaking, Harris and Duda looked at each other as if each expected the other to respond first.
“OK,” Harris finally said, drawing a chuckle from Duda and the assembled reporters.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” the veep added before laughing loudly at her own line. After the merriment died down, Duda confirmed that he had asked Harris to help speed up the consular process so Ukrainian refugees with family in the US could stay with them.
Critics lined up to hammer the vice president on Twitter, saying the topic was “no laughing matter.”
‘It would be a tragedy if this woman won the presidency,’ Iuliia Mendel, the former Zelensky spokesperson, said in a quote tweet responding to a video of the interaction. She later deleted the post after backlash.
“Only Kamala Harris would find it appropriate to laugh when talking about the topic of Ukrainian Refugees,” tweeted Benny Johnson of conservative group Turning Point USA.
“Kamala Harris has been very consistent during her live remarks with Poland’s leader,” said former Donald Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos. “She is awkwardly laughing. Again. Discussing refugees is no laughing matter. Why she laughs at this is deranged.”
“Nothing about any of this is funny,” added Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean.
This is not the first time Harris has been criticized for laughing at an inappropriate time. In August, Harris cut off a question from reporters about the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan by saying, “Hold on, hold on — slow down, everybody” before dissolving into giggles.
Get the latest updates in the Russia-Ukraine conflict with The Post’s live coverage.
At the time, former “The View” co-host Meghan McCain suggested that Harris had “some kind of real issue” and compared her to “Batman” villain The Joker.
“[S]he’s the Vice President and she’s had ample time and resources to media train herself out of reacting to every SINGLE crisis situation like she’s walking onto a late-night show,” McCain tweeted. “She comes off so craven.”
On Thursday, Harris said she recognized the burden placed on Poland by the “unprecedented” flow of refugees — more than 1.4 million as of Thursday evening — but stopped short of saying whether the US was committed to taking in a certain number.
The VP did note that Ukrainians currently in the US whose visas are nearing their expiration date will be allowed to remain.
“We will not send them back to what is a war zone,” Harris said.
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