President Joe Biden seemed to “hush” Vice President Kamala Harris during a live press conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Friday. The event, aimed at addressing the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Milton and Helene, featured Biden alongside Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi, and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
As Biden began wrapping up his remarks, he turned his attention to Granholm, who appeared to nudge him to let him know that Harris would be speaking. “I know, I’m going to go to the vice president. The she—she’s my boss,” Biden said referring to his Energy Secretary.
Shortly after, Biden was interrupted again, this time by Harris, and stated, “Hang on madame Vice President,” before continuing on. He finished with an apparent shot at Harris, saying, “So with that, I’ll yield to the President… I mean, the Vice President.” The exchange raised eyebrows, with some interpreting it as a subtle dig at Harris.
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This isn’t the first time that the dynamic between Biden and Harris has come into question. Biden seems to be still feeling the sting of having to bow out of his reelection campaign, and he’s unlikely to forget the key players who nudged him toward the exit.
In July, Biden announced his decision to drop out of the 2024 race following a disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump. The debate performance, which left many questioning his mental fitness, led to Harris stepping in as the Democratic nominee for president. Reports of a rift between the two have persisted since, with some suggesting that the shift in their roles has created ongoing friction.
Former President Trump also weighed in during September’s first and only debate since Harris became the Democratic nominee, saying that “Biden hates his own vice president.” His statement further fueled speculation about the strained relationship between Biden and Harris, with analysts noting the lack of unity in the Democratic camp as a significant vulnerability. The incident follows a string of verbal gaffes that have plagued Biden throughout his presidency, at a time when the Democratic Party is struggling to present a united front.
Concerns are mounting that Harris’s efforts are losing steam as debates over strategic resource deployment resurface. Her team has publicly shrugged off poll results, maintaining that the race remains tight and will continue to be close until Election Day. But with just weeks remaining, and after several high-profile visits to swing states and a strong debate performance aimed at closing the gap left by Biden’s departure, Harris’s numbers have seen little improvement.
“People are nervous. They know the polls are tight,” a source close to the Harris campaign told CNN. “A lot of us are having these flashbacks to 2016 too. We know when it can go the wrong way, and it can still feel fresh.” The unease is also fueled by the razor-thin margins in the race. Harris’s campaign views the seven most critical battleground states as either tied or falling within the margin of error. Despite discussions of various paths to secure 270 electoral votes—whether through the Blue Wall states or the Sun Belt—none of these routes seem assured. “They’re all narrow paths. They’re all tight paths,” a senior Democrat familiar with the campaign stated.
Trump famously outperformed nearly every poll in both of his runs for the White House on Election Day.