Vice President Kamala Harris has told her closest confidants that she’s disappointed President Biden claimed in a recent interview that he could have won the 2024 election had he been allowed to face Donald Trump.
Biden’s comment to USA Today has strained the relationship between Biden and Harris in the final days of their administration, according to a Wall Street Journal report published late Wednesday.
According to the outlet, Harris allies believe the comment by Biden demonstrated the “one-sided loyalty” that has marked the pair’s alliance, with the veep reluctant to criticize or distance herself from her boss.
“Who cares?” one former Biden official told The Post in response to the reported rift. “She is done.”
In the USA Today interview published Jan. 8, Biden told the paper’s Washington bureau chief Susan Page: “It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes, based on the polling” that he would have won a second term.
The 82-year-old then doubled down days later, saying he “could have beaten Trump, would have beaten Trump” — before adding that Harris also “could have beaten Trump, would have beaten Trump,” possibly forgetting that she had lost to the Republican in an Electoral College landside Nov. 5.
Eagle-eyed observers have detected a noticeable chill in relations between Harris and the Bidens, notably first lady Jill Biden.
At last month’s Kennedy Center Honors, the Bidens neither greeted nor acknowledged Harris as they took their seats to a standing ovation.
Last week, Jill Biden took her place in the front row of former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral at Washington National Cathedral without even glancing at Harris or second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
“You didn’t see a particularly warm greeting between the first couple and the second couple,” intoned CNN anchor Jake Tapper during the network’s coverage. “But again, we are at a funeral, so one has to take that into account when trying to read the body language of the individuals there.”
Harris, 60, was present in the Oval Office for Biden’s farewell address Wednesday night, sitting between her husband and the first lady.
Biden’s exit from the 2024 race has also strained Jill Biden’s relationship with another key Democrat, Nancy Pelosi.
The first lady told the Washington Post in an interview published Wednesday that she was “disappointed” Pelosi forced her husband to drop his campaign, despite having been “friends” for 50 years.
After Monday, Harris will be out of public office for the first time in over two decades.
The Journal, citing people familiar with Harris’ thinking, said she and Emhoff plan to split their time between California and New York, while the veep considers her political future — including a possible 2026 run for Golden State governor and a 2028 White House bid.
Spokespeople for Biden and Harris did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Post.
