Conservatives slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for not saluting the honor guard while boarding Air Force Two, breaking with a decades-old tradition.
“DISGRACEFUL: @VP Kamala Harris refuses to salute the honor guard at the steps of the aircraft. It is a clear demonstration of her dislike for those in uniform, both law-enforcement and military,” former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik tweeted, accompanied by a video of Harris on Monday.
DISGRACEFUL: @VP Kamala Harris refuses to salute the honor guard at the steps of the aircraft. It is a clear demonstration of her dislike for those in uniform, both law-enforcement and military. pic.twitter.com/7QFHzamnt7
— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) March 23, 2021
Harris’s predecessors, former Vice Presidents Mike Pence and Joe Biden, regularly saluted the honor guard, with the tradition originating during the Reagan administration.
KAMALA HARRIS LAUGHS OFF QUESTION ABOUT VISITING BORDER, SPARKING TORRENT OF GOP CRITICISM
“I know all the rules about not saluting in civilian clothes and so forth, and when you should or shouldn’t,” President Ronald Reagan said, according to the Florida Times-Union in the 1980s. “So, I said to the commandant, I said, ‘Look, I know all the rules about saluting in civilian clothes and all, but if I am the commander in chief, there ought to be a regulation that would permit me to return a salute.’ And I heard some words of wisdom. He said, ‘I think if you did, no one would say anything.’”
However, there is no protocol for the vice president or president to salute military members outside of the presidential fleet.
Conservatives echoed Kerik on social media, characterizing Harris’s lack of salute as disrespectful.
Kamala Harris doesn’t salute members of the military as she gets on Air Force Two, breaking with a customary tradition of respect
Remember when she and Joe Biden tried to sell the lie that *Trump* was the one who didn’t respect the troops?
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 23, 2021
Kamala Harris is so disrespectful!
She is a total embarrassment!
She refused to salute our Troops, she acted like they didn’t even exist.
But she’s a Role Model ? pic.twitter.com/fViJ07uBv4
— Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) March 23, 2021
Kamala Harris failed to salute our troops as she boarded her plane last night
And she openly laughed when asked if she’ll be visiting the border amidst a growing crisis.
This is shameful.https://t.co/C8gVMcDa4C
— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) March 23, 2021
Biden is in no rush to get to the Southern border to see the disaster his policies have created.
Kamala Harris does not salute back to the troops as she boards Air Force 2.
If you look closely, you’ll see that the Biden Administration perfectly encapsulates “America Last.”
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) March 23, 2021
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Others on social media pointed out that Harris is not the commander in chief and that civilians are not supposed to salute military members.
Vice President Kamala Harris is not the Commander in Chief. She is a civilian
Civilians are not supposed to salute military personnel https://t.co/n5NmTgoekV
— Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) March 23, 2021
