‘I Am Speaking Now’: At a Rally in Detroit, Harris Stares Down Her Detractors

When protesters first interrupted Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Detroit on Wednesday evening, she smiled, with a gentle corrective.“I am speaking now.”

But as the disruption continued, her patience ran thin. “You know what?” Ms. Harris said, with the sudden force and resolve of a parent in the driver’s seat who has had it. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

As the crowd roared, Ms. Harris stayed silent, jaw set, eyes fixed.

The Detroit stare-down was the latest reminder of how Ms. Harris has been able, with an almost theatrical flair, to turn efforts to undermine and rattle her into her own political weapons.

She also takes particular umbrage at being interrupted.

Viewers might have recalled her 2020 debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence, when she objected to his repeated attempts to cut into her responses. Her left hand went up, palm facing Mr. Pence across the stage. “Mr. Vice President, I am speaking. I am speaking,” she said. When it happened again, she smiled at him: “Mr. Vice President, I am speaking.”

Her reaction also suggested a new approach to dealing with the protests that in recent months had tripped up President Biden.

In January, protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza interrupted President Biden’s speech at a church in Charleston, S.C. “That’s all right, that’s all right,” the president said, as they were escorted out. “Look, folks, I understand their passion.”