Vice President Kamala Harris is plotting to distance herself from President Joe Biden, just days after the White House called the duo “critical partners,” according to Axios.
Though Harris herself won’t admit she wants to differentiate herself from Biden, anonymous advisers told Axios that the vice president is seeking to separate herself from the president’s economic policy, specifically on inflation and price increases. The vice president plans to give her first policy speech where she will attempt to define her platform three weeks after entering the presidential race, Axios reported. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Has No Campaign Platform Weeks After Becoming Presumptive Nominee)
While separating herself from Biden on the economy, Harris would also like to distance herself from the president’s “often-backward-looking lens on democracy and other issues,” according to Axios. Though the vice president apparently wants daylight between her and Biden, White House Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the duo has been a pair in the “historic, unprecedented achievements” the administration has achieved.
“So look, because they’ve been partners … certainly those historic, unprecedented achievements have been done together,” Jean-Pierre said of what Biden believes is Harris’ biggest accomplishment as vice president. “I’ll say this, the president believes in the vice president’s leadership, her temperament, her experience. And he has said this himself, one of the proudest decisions he made in 2020 was selecting her as vice president because he believed she could go on day one.”
“I’m not going to parse out anything from here. They have been partners. She’s been a critical partner for this president during this term, and we’ll continue to do so,” she continued.
RCP’s Phil Wegmann To WH: What Does Biden See As The Vice President’s Biggest Achievement?
Story – https://t.co/fFsKkkecxp
“Because they’ve been partners, those historic unprecedented achievements have been done together.”
“I would say it is a comprehensive whole.” pic.twitter.com/JeNQ9QhqQh
— RCP Video (@rcpvideo) August 12, 2024
In an attempt to define herself, the campaign is planning to reverse some of Harris’ previous policy statements, the outlet reported. The vice president’s campaign has issued anonymous statements walking back her various stances from her 2020 presidential campaign. Four years ago, Harris came out in favor of a ban on fracking, mandatory federal gun buybacks and the abolition of private health insurance. Since, Harris’ campaign staffers have reversed her stance on such issues. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Fails To Distance Herself From Left-Wing 2020 Campaign, Despite Aides’ Best Efforts)
Amid all the anonymous statements from her staffers, Harris has yet to do a sit-down interview or a press conference three weeks into her campaign. The campaign has also been editing headlines and descriptions of almost a dozen outlets’ articles found through Google search advertisements to appear as search ads from the Harris campaign, according to Axios.
The Trump campaign plans to draw contrast to Harris’ lack of media appearances and record by sending Senator J.D. Vance behind her on the campaign trail, insiders previously told the Daily Caller.
“To highlight that, Senator Vance and President Trump are showing up where Kamala Harris is not,” a campaign spokesperson, granted anonymity to preview strategy, told the Caller. The spokesperson pointed out that Trump attended the National Association of Black Journalists conference when Harris did not. Trump has also appeared with non-traditional media personalities, including streamer Adin Ross and Elon Musk.
“Senator Vance is doing the same by going to the same places that Kamala Harris is going but refusing to take questions. Anyone can show up in a state and read off of a script, off a teleprompter, and then leave 20 minutes later, that’s exactly what Joe Biden was doing, and it didn’t work for him. We’re not going to let it work,” the spokesperson continued.
