Election 2024 updates: Beshear says Vance 'ain't from Appalachia' at Harris event

Harris said that actions taken by protestors demonstrating against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks outside of Washington, D.C.'s Union Station Wednesday night as "despicable acts by unpatriotic protestors and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric," in a statement Thursday.

"I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews," Harris said in the statement. "Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation."

She also strongly condemned burning of the American flag, which was captured in several videos at the scene.

"That flag is a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation and represents the promise of America," Harris said. "It should never be desecrated in that way."

The statement came after House Speaker Mike Johnson and a small group House Republicans went to Union Station late Wednesday night to put up American flags.

"Earlier today, pro-Hamas protesters took down the American flags at Union Station, burned them and raised Palestinian flags. Tonight, we righted their wrong. American flags are once again flying over Union Station. We will not let the terrorist mob win," Johnson said in a statement on X.

Sen. Ted Cruz reposted a video of the protests at Union Station on X, saying the protesters are part of the "left's base," claiming "Make no mistake: mainstream Democrats will do anything they can to pander to these antisemites."

Harris is set to meet with Netanyahu at the White House Thursday. It also comes as people are watching carefully to see how she defines her stance on the Israeli-Hamas War as a presidential candidate -- a contentious issue which was a political albatross for Biden when he was a candidate.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Lauren Peller

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday released her first official campaign video since jumping into the race for president, in which she zeroes in on her message of "freedom" while taking direct jabs at former President Donald Trump's legal woes by using his mug shot.

"In this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?" Harris says in the video titled "We Choose Freedom."

"There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos. Of fear. Of hate," she says, as images of Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, flash on screen. "But us. We choose something different; we choose freedom."

The video features Beyonce's "Freedom," a song that the vice president plays as she takes the stage at rallies. It includes shots from Harris' rally just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which, according to the campaign, was their largest ever this cycle, including all of President Joe Biden's rallies since he got into the race in April 2023.

The new campaign add features Harris saying "no one is above the law" over footage of the the former president's mug shot and newspaper headlines after he was convicted in a New York court.

On the campaign trail, Harris has sought to frame the race as being between a former prosecutor and a convicted felon.

Harris said she has a vision of the future "where no child lives in poverty, where we all can afford health care, where no one is above the law," and Americans have "the freedom not just to get by but get ahead. The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body."

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie

Former President Barack Obama praised President Joe Biden's prime time Oval Office address, saying his former vice president continued his patriotic record.

Obama quoted Biden, who said during his speech to the nation that the "sacred cause of this country is larger than any one of us."

"Joe Biden has stayed true to these words again and again over a lifetime of service to the American people," Obama said. "Thank you, @POTUS."

-ABC News' Oren Oppenheim

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement after the speech saying the president "is not only on the right side of history, but on the right side of the future."

"With love and gratitude, I salute President Biden for always believing in the possibilities of America and giving people the opportunity to reach their fulfillment," she said.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller