(OPINION) As Vice President Kamala Harris continues to face critique over her response to rallygoers who yelled “Christ is King” and “Jesus is Lord,” the two individuals allegedly involved are speaking out.
Luke Polaske and Grant Beth, two students at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin, told Fox News what happened during the now-viral campaign moment.
News of the interaction, which unfolded at a campus rally last Thursday, spread on social media over the weekend. Video clips show Harris purportedly responding, “You guys are at the wrong rally” after Polaske and Beth reportedly yelled, “Christ is King” and “Jesus is Lord,” among other statements.
Some critics have alleged Harris’s response was flippant or insulting to faith, though it is unclear whether the Democratic presidential contender heard the specific faith statements before uttering her reply.
Polaske and Beth, who are pro-life, told Fox News they were doing “God’s work” by attending and were specifically responding to Harris’ pro-choice commentary during the rally.
Just before the interaction, the two also yelled out that “abortion is the sacrament of Satan.” Ultimately, the two said they received a harsh rebuke for their statements countering Harris during the rally.
“I was pushed by an elderly woman. We were heckled at, we were cursed at, we were mocked, and that’s the biggest thing for me personally,” Beth said. “In reflection of the event, Jesus was mocked.
You know, his disciples were mocked, and that’s OK. In reality, we did God’s work, and we were there for the right reasons, and God is watching us in this moment.”
Polaske offered details, from his perspective, of what unfolded after the duo made their faith proclamation and Harris responded.
“On video, Grant’s getting pushed and shoved, and there’s about five seconds before she tells us to go to a small rally down the street,” he said. “You can see on the video, she waves. She was actually waving to me.
I took this cross off my neck that I wear and, as we were getting asked to leave, I held it up in the air and waved at her and pointed at her, and she looked directly in the eye, kind of gave me an evil smirk.”
