White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday rejected the idea that Vice President Kamala Harris has struggled to distinguish herself from President Biden on the campaign trail.
One journalist suggested that Harris has had difficulty separating herself from Biden’s domestic and foreign policy positions in “interview after interview.”
“Does she have a green light? If she wanted to express a different point of view than the administration on any issue, domestic or foreign, could she do so? Or she is required to be a loyal vice president to President Biden.”
“I don’t agree,” Jean-Pierre responded, arguing that he has seen Harris as “incredibly strong” and “very lucid” in interviews.
WHITE HOUSE: BIDEN IS NOT STOPING HARRIS, HE HAS BEEN ‘VERY CLEAR ABOUT PASSING THE TORCH’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on October 21, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“In fact, she has been a partner in this president and in these successes that we have seen in this administration,” Jean-Pierre said.
He said Biden has viewed Harris as loyal, but understands that she will chart “her own path” forward.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event on October 18, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Pressed again to respond to accusations that Harris had failed to distinguish policy positions from Biden’s, Jean-Pierre said: “I haven’t seen that.”
Jean-Pierre said he had instead seen a vice president who “has demonstrated strength and leadership” and who “cares about the American people.”
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“That’s what we’ve seen. That’s what a lot of Americans want to see. They want to see a fighter. And that’s what she is,” Jean-Pierre said.
Since formally earning the vice presidential nomination, Harris has come under fire for what critics believe was her inability to clearly demonstrate how a Harris administration would differ from a Biden administration.
Vice President Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris greets a parishioner during a church service and early voting event at Divine Faith Ministries International in Georgia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The question was posed to Harris at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday. Asked to name a policy she would have done differently over the past three and a half years, Harris dismissed the question, saying it was not the tradition of vice presidents to criticize their presidents.
And earlier this month, Harris told “The View” co-hosts that she couldn’t think of anything significant she would have done differently than Biden.
“I can’t think of anything,” Harris said when asked the question.
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When asked the same question during an interview with Stephen Colbert, Harris said, “I’m obviously not Joe Biden.”
The vice president has hinted at what a Harris administration would look like. During a visit to the border last month, Harris proposed toughening Biden’s border policies.
Harris has affirmed her support for legalizing marijuana, saying, “I think we’ve reached a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing it.” The vice president also proposed reducing capital gains taxes from President Biden’s levels.
