President Biden is stealing the spotlight from Vice President Kamala Harris, frequently popping up moments before she is about to hit the stage and sometimes contradicting her.
It’s making Democrats nervous that his refusal to exit quietly will hurt Ms. Harris’ campaign.
Ms. Harris has less than a month to prove to the American people that she has what it takes to be president. She is trying to take the lead on Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton and the Middle East conflict. But even as Ms. Harris tries to assert her leadership, Mr. Biden keeps pushing her out of the limelight.
Democrats get anxious every time Mr. Biden pops up on Americans’ television screens because they fear he’ll remind voters of his unpopularity and thwart Ms. Harris’ already weak efforts to distance herself from him.
Ms. Harris argues that she’s the change candidate in this election.
“His constant presence reminds Americans of why he dropped out of the race,” said a party operative who agreed to talk anonymously. “Biden’s popularity and gaffes haven’t gotten better since he ended his campaign.”
“The only person who wants Biden out in front of voters is Trump,” the operative continued.
Mr. Biden’s approval ratings have not improved since he dropped out of the presidential race in July. For most of Mr. Biden’s presidency, his approval rating has been just below 40%. Currently, 54% of Americans disapprove of his job performance, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Still, his shadow has loomed large over Ms.Harris in recent days.
Moments before Ms. Harris was to appear Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” to unveil a new policy aimed at lowering the cost of senior care, Mr. Biden commanded the airwaves from the White House. He dramatically warned Florida residents to “evacuate now, now,” as Hurricane Milton was nearing landfall.
On Friday, Mr. Biden made his first-ever appearance in the White House briefing room to boast about a better-than-expected jobs report just as Ms. Harris was about to take the stage in Michigan, a battleground state. While Mr. Biden doled out credit to Ms. Harris for the strong jobs numbers, he also joked that he was reentering the presidential race.
Whenever the president goes live, cable news stations cut away from Ms. Harris to show viewers Mr. Biden’s remarks.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign seized on Mr. Biden’s impromptu appearance, issuing a press release thanking the president for “upstaging” Ms. Harris and ensuring “the eyes of the world were on him, not Kamala.”
Also last week, Ms. Harris abruptly canceled a campaign appearance in Las Vegas and flew back to Washington to show Americans she was a major player in the response to Hurricane Helene. However, moments before she was set to speak at FEMA headquarters, Mr. Biden delivered remarks from the Roosevelt Room, again reminding voters that she’s his No. 2.
The friction isn’t just limited to upstaging. Also this week, Mr. Biden praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, for being “cooperative” and doing a “great job” in his response to Helene and Milton. That contradicted Ms. Harris, who accused Mr. DeSantis of “playing political games” and dodging her phone calls rather than helping his state prepare for the Hurricanes.
Mr. Biden said he had multiple calls with the Florida governor.
Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf downplayed the anxiety over Mr. Biden hogging the spotlight but acknowledged that it doesn’t help Ms. Harris.
“People aren’t paying attention to Mr. Biden. He’s becoming kind of irrelevant, but is his presence useful to Harris? He would be better off on the campaign trail and places where he can do some good,” he said.
Mr. Biden had vowed to be an ardent campaigner for Ms. Harris, but he has been largely absent from the campaign trail. He has made one joint campaign appearance with Ms. Harris since he bowed out of the race.
Some of Mr. Biden’s recent time in the spotlight has been focused on finalizing his legacy. On Tuesday, he traveled to Wisconsin to highlight his administration’s efforts to replace lead pipes.
He also recently visited Pennsylvania and Michigan — both battleground states — but the trips were more of a farewell tour than to promote Ms. Harris’ campaign.
At their lone campaign appearance, the White House broke tradition and had Mr. Biden introduce Ms. Harris at the event to trumpet her support for labor unions.
Mr. Biden told the crowd that electing Ms. Harris as president would be “the best decision you will have ever made.” But, as soon as he finished speaking, Mr. Biden shook hands with those around him, drawing snickers because Ms. Harris hadn’t started speaking yet.
When asked about Mr. Biden’s absence on the campaign trail, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said he was “doing his job as president.”
“I think that’s the most important thing,” she said.
Mr. Sheinkopf sees it differently. He said Mr. Biden is trying to have some moments before he exits the White House for good.
“No one who was president likes not being president, and once you are in that environment, it’s very difficult to walk away,” he said. “I don’t think he’s trying to upstage her because it’s in his interest for her to win. But there are other ways to be helpful.”
Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have appeared together at several official White House events, including one at the White House on combating gun violence and a healthcare event in August.
The Harris campaign did not respond about what it views as Mr. Biden’s role in supporting her election bid.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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