Allies of Vice President Kamala Harris are reportedly upset and frustrated that she was not considered as a potential leader of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden’s widely criticized debate performance last week.
Citing Harris insiders, Politico reported that some of her allies bristled as the post-debate conversation among party members regarding a potential replacement for Biden included names like Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, but not the VP. The rebuff came even as Harris was expected to defend her boss amid a tidal wave of criticism over his weak showing against a more assertive, more confident former President Donald Trump.
Names like Newsom and Whitmer “trended online as potential replacements for Biden on the Democratic ticket, while Harris — by several measures the most obvious and best-positioned candidate — was left to publicly defend Biden at the single worst moment of their four-year-old political partnership,” Politico reported.