Jim Geraghty of National Review Online considers President Biden’s relationship with his No. 2.
Does Joe Biden trust Kamala Harris?
Does Biden act like he trusts Harris?
In an op-ed in the New Yorj Times, … historian Jeffrey Frank lays out how Harris “hasn’t been given the sort of immersive experiences or sustained, high-profile tasks that would deepen and broaden her expertise in ways Americans could see and appreciate,” and points out how the disconnect is particularly odd, considering Biden’s age and health, and the expectation that he would eventually pass the torch to Harris.
“In the nearly two years since Mr. Biden tapped Ms. Harris as his running mate in August 2020, we’ve learned that her bonds with Mr. Biden and key administration officials are relatively thin. It’s no small matter that she’s had only a handful of private lunches this year with Mr. Biden.” …
… Republicans are not making Joe Biden or Tony Blinken ditch the expected regular schedule of lunches with Harris. The media isn’t making them do that. The president’s schedule is the one thing the White House can almost completely control. (One can’t help but wonder if the lack of in-person meetings with Harris reflects the nearly 80-year-old president’s generally light schedule, and the implication that Biden only has a limited number of functional hours in a day.) …
… No outside force is making Biden shove off the unpopular issues like the border and Central American migration onto Harris’s plate. No outside force is keeping Harris from doing more public events and media interviews. (The claim that the 50-50 Senate is keeping Harris in Washington doesn’t hold much water, although it may reflect irritation with Chuck Schumer’s scheduling decisions.)
If you’re a Kamala Harris fan who feels like she’s being snubbed, ignored, shunted aside or under-utilized . . . it’s not the GOP or Fox News or other media entities who are making this happen.
