Vice President Kamala Harris wouldn't take the bait.
“Joe Biden is our candidate,” she told a CBS News reporter outside a fundraiser in San Francisco on Tuesday night, amid signs that the president’s Democratic hold was breaking down.
The journalist tried another tactic: he asked her if she was prepared to lead the country if necessary. Nothing.
“I'm proud to be Joe Biden's running mate,” she replied.
In the week since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Harris has received more attention than at any point since her early, rocky days as his No. 2. Polls and party infrastructure give her an advantage over other potential replacements for Biden, should he decide to drop out of the race against former President Trump.
But Harris is in a delicate position, a magnified version of the political pressure she has faced throughout her tenure. She cannot afford to show even a hint that she is seeking to replace Biden, the oldest president in history at 81. She does, however, have to watch her back, to ensure that others do not usurp her should Biden’s job become available.
“She absolutely and definitely has to dance with whoever brought her in, and any distance she shows between herself and the only person on Earth who could be considered her boss would be seen as disloyalty,” said one former aide, who requested anonymity to avoid angering fellow Democrats with his comments on the succession. “If the ground continues to shift … she will inevitably be put in a position where she potentially has to make a decision or perhaps a decision will be made for her.”
So far, he has been getting relatively good marks from Democrats who appreciate his attempts to defend Biden, while Republicans continue to deride his public speeches as word salad.
“It’s been interesting to see people who have been critical of her over the last three and a half years say, ‘I would support her,’” said one ally who is in regular contact with Harris and Biden’s inner circles, who asked not to be identified to avoid upsetting friends in Biden’s orbit. “People believe, and have always believed, that she can carry the case.”
Harris appeared on CNN just minutes into last week’s debate, when most Democrats were still reeling, and offered the first version of Biden’s defense. She acknowledged what she called a “slow start” and insisted: “I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last three and a half years.”
Harris has made a similar argument since then, traveling to speeches and fundraisers, including an event Tuesday night in San Francisco, where she categorized the “elephant in the room” as both the debate and the prospect of another Trump presidency.
“She’s doing her job, and to suggest that there’s someone waiting in the wings, someone looking to preempt the 2028 election, no, that’s not Kamala Harris,” said Donna Brazile, an ally who wants Biden to remain at the top of the ticket.
His one-time rival, Gov. Gavin Newsom, has taken a similar stance, positioning himself as Biden’s public defender and distancing himself from elements of the party that want the president to step aside. He was scheduled to visit the White House Wednesday night to “stand with the president,” he said in a fundraising email.
Harris had her customary lunch with Biden on Wednesday. She also participated in a campaign call with Biden in which Biden assured staff that he was “in this race all the way,” according to a person familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We will not back down. We will follow the lead of our president. We will fight and we will win,” Harris told staff, according to this person.
Though Biden promised weekly lunches when he took office, the meetings have been inconsistent, an indication that Biden has often leaned more on his longtime aides than his deputy.
But if he were to run for president, he could campaign on the administration's legislative successes, including its environmental and infrastructure spending bills.
Republicans are expected to capitalize on her role as a key player in Biden’s immigration policy: Early in his term, Biden assigned Harris to oversee a strategy aimed at strengthening economic, security and political conditions in Central America to curb the “root causes” of migration.
But Harris has never been comfortable with that role, and Republicans have gleefully dubbed her a “border czar” while attacking the Biden administration for record numbers of arrests at the border.
Harris gained political traction after the Supreme Court struck down abortion rights in 2022, and she led the White House’s response. She has been unable to change the law or stop red states from passing sweeping restrictions on the procedure, but she helped the Democratic Party use the issue to gain a stronger showing in the 2022 midterm elections. Democrats hope to use the issue again if they can overcome concerns about Biden’s suitability for office.
A CNN poll released Tuesday found that three-quarters of American voters believed Democrats would have a better chance of winning the White House without Biden. Among potential replacements, only Harris came within two percentage points of Trump. Her allies have long said her name recognition and control of the party apparatus would put her in a better position to lead than her potential rivals, who include Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), who has been a key supporter of Biden, said Tuesday on MSNBC that he would support Harris as a replacement but that his first preference is for Biden to remain the nominee.
“But I want to support her in the future,” he said.
But there remains deep concern about Harris in the party. Even CNN’s poll showed she has ground to make up against Trump in a theoretical matchup — and that’s without the media scrutiny and Republican attack that leading the ticket would entail. And her early struggles in office, which led to high staff turnover and low poll numbers, left a poor impression on many voters, though her average approval rating in polls has improved slightly in recent months.
A USA Today/Suffolk poll in March found that 54% of voters said she is not qualified to serve as president, compared with 38% who said she is. Focus groups shared with The Times by a pro-Biden Republican group earlier this year showed that undecided voters and even Black voters had negative impressions, some of which her allies believe were tied to her race and gender.
But even if Harris had work to do, no other potential replacement has faced as much national scrutiny, possibly making him a bigger risk to the party.
“She has been in the spotlight and has suffered for it,” the former aide said. “No one can say she is an unknown at this point.”
Bierman reported from Washington and Wiley from San Francisco.
