How bad are tensions between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden right now? All signs point to pretty bad, and what Harris spokesman Ian Sams said when pressed on the issue might as well be direct confirmation.
Appearing on Fox News with Neil Cavuto, Sams refused to dispel concerns when given the opportunity. Instead, he deflected to Donald Trump and Mike Pence before deflecting again when the question was reiterated.
Harris spokesman Ian Sams on Fox News in response to a q about alleged tension between Biden and Harris: "Well, I think first and foremost when you think about tensions between a president and VP, you have to think about J6 when Trump let his supporters chant 'hang Mike Pence'" pic.twitter.com/dTryo5aViy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 14, 2024
SAMS: Well, I think, first and foremost, when you think about tensions between a president and vice president, you've got to think about January 6th when President Trump let his supporters chant, "Hang Mike Pence," and Mike Pence doesn't even support President Trump's campaign...
CAVUTO: I understand that, Ian, but to answer my question, is there tension now between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden?
SAMS: Well, look, I think that when Vice President Harris is out there on the stump, and she's answering voter questions, and she's answering questions from reporters like Bret and yourself every day, she's answering the question to say, "I'm running as my own candidate."
It doesn't get any easier for a spokesperson than that. Sams is given two separate chances to just say, "No, there's no tension and the president fully supports the vice president." Instead, we get a predictable mention of January 6th before another deflection stating that Harris is her "own candidate."
I didn't think anyone was confused by that last part, but the fact that Sams refused to just come out and deny the reports, which have included quotes from inside the Harris camp, says everything.
Apparently Team Kamala is pissed off that the Biden White House wasn’t “thinking first and foremost about how things would effect the campaign” when Biden praised DeSantis for his hurricane response after Kamala accused him of politicizing it. pic.twitter.com/bymxyYSA2K
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 13, 2024
Is Biden actively seeking to hurt Harris' campaign? I wouldn't go that far, but he has certainly taken a carefree approach regarding how his statements and actions affect her campaign. He has repeatedly tied her to his policies when given the chance to support her preferred narrative that she is her "own candidate." More recently, he directly undercut her attacks on Ron DeSantis, making her look like a liar using a hurricane as a political prop.
SEE: Biden Does It Again, Completely Nukes Harris Attacks on DeSantis
Something is going on behind the scenes, and it's not hard to figure out why. Biden feels betrayed. He's announced that in no uncertain terms publicly several times. And while Harris has tried to present herself as disconnected from the backstabbing that occurred, she is the one who benefited from it. Senility aside, that's not lost on Biden, who no doubt suspects she helped orchestrate the scheme that forced him out of the race.
Why the Harris campaign won't just bat all this down is beyond me. It's not as if they haven't lied about dozens of other things. It would have been really easy for Sams to just say no to Cavuto's question. The only thing I can figure is that they are scared of being undercut by leaks if they go too far in denying what is obvious to everyone.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member