Is the relationship between President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris truly copacetic, or is there already trouble inside the West Wing?
Politics
According to multiple news reports, not only are the vice-president’s poll numbers even lower than the president’s, but Mr. Biden is already considering replacing Ms. Harris on the 2024 Democratic ticket.
For weeks, the atmosphere inside the office of Vice President Kamala Harris is said to have been chaotic and crumbling. At least 4 prominent staffers have resigned, including communications director Ashley Etienne and chief spokesperson Symone Sanders. And, if that isn’t enough, The Washington Post is reporting that among 18 current and former Harris staffers, most of them have been miserable in the jobs.
“It’s clear that you’re not working with somebody who is willing to do the prep and the work,” one ex-staffer said in December. “With Kamala, you have to put up with a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence. So you’re constantly sort of propping up a bully and it’s not really clear why,” the source continued.
The reputation of Ms. Harris inside The White House is said to be so tarnished, that The New York Times suggested Mr. Biden replace her on the ticket with GOP Sen. Liz Cheney (The White House pushed back on this narrative). Additionally, NBC’s Today Show anchor Craig Melvin agitated the vice-president when he asked her during an interview if she thought she’d remain on President Biden’s 2024 ticket.
“I’m sorry, we are thinking about today,” Ms. Harris said tersely. “I mean, honestly —- I know why you’re asking the question, because this is part of the punditry and the gossip around places like Washington, D.C. Let me just tell you something: we’re focused on the things in front of us.”
For those inside the Vice President Kamala Harris camp, they believe Mr. Biden is acting as if he needed her to win but doesn’t need her to govern. This theory is related to some low-key frustration from the vice-president that she has not been set up by The White House to succeed. She also reportedly feels that although she serves at the pleasure of the president, he is not delegating substantive responsibilities for her to handle.
Is Vice-President Harris already a failure? Was she used to win but set up to lose by President Biden? Or, is all of this a bunch of malarky and nonsense designed to discredit the first person of color and the first female to serve as America’s 2nd in command?
Reuters: Kamala Harris assumed office in historic fashion, becoming the first woman to serve “a heartbeat away from the presidency”. But her first year as vice-president has been far from a smooth ride. The job has not come easy. Ms Harris’ approval ratings have slumped. The president has tasked her with assignments that range from the intractable to virtually insoluble. Her office has been beset by high-profile resignations. If Ms Harris accepted her party’s vice-presidential nomination thinking she would be anointed as the Democratic heir apparent to the presidency, it was a notion that did not take long to dispel. While Mr Biden said in a press conference on Wednesday that he would keep her as his running mate if he stands for re-election, it remains to be seen whether that will put to rest speculation about her political future. So what, exactly, has gone wrong for her – and… Read more »