Vice President Harris snubs Elizabeth Warren’s attempt to apologize

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is failing to get back into the good graces of Vice President Kamala Harris after refusing to commit to the idea of President Biden keeping his VP on the ticket in 2024.

Ms. Warren has called Ms. Harris twice to say she was sorry for the perceived slight but Ms. Harris never called back, according to CNN.

The tiff stems from a January radio interview in which Ms. Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, was asked whether Ms. Harris should be on the ticket.

“I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team,” Ms. Warren said in an interview with Boston Public Radio. 

“I’ve known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was an attorney general, and I was still teaching and we worked on the housing crisis together, so we go way back,” she said. “But they need — they have to be a team, and my sense is they are — I don’t mean that by suggesting I think there are any problems. I think they are.”

Ms. Warren later attempted to clean up her comments, releasing a statement saying, “I fully support the President’s and Vice President’s re-election together, and never intended to imply otherwise.”

“They’re a terrific team with a strong record of delivering for working families,” Ms. Warren said.

The damage, though, was already done. Ms. Harris, who has suffered a steady stream of criticisms and slights from political friends and foes alike since taking office, wasn’t going to let this one slide.

A person close to Ms. Harris described the situation to CNN as “pretty insulting.”

Ms. Warren and Ms. Harris were rivals in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Ms. Harris floundered in the race and dropped out before the first votes were cast. 

Ms. Warren struggled as well. She said last year that she wouldn’t seek the presidency in 2024 and will stay focused on her Senate career.

Mr. Biden threw Ms. Harris a lifeline in 2020 by tapping her as his running mate, helping her make history as the first female and first biracial vice president. Since then she has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism from Democrats and in particular Republicans, who have cast her as clueless and out of touch.

Mr. Biden has yet to announce he is running for a second term, triggering speculation that he could step aside and unearthing fears about Ms. Harris potentially leading the ticket.