Kamala Harris’s biggest task in this election is to brand herself as the “change” candidate. Heck, her campaign slogan, “A New Way Forward,” epitomizes this goal. Complicating this effort is the fact that she can’t completely distance herself from Joe Biden or the Biden-Harris record. This hasn’t stopped her allies from trying.
For example, MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen tried to claim that as vice president, Kamala has virtually no influence on the administration’s policy.
Piers Morgan tried this same bit, pretending that suddenly Vice Presidents are there to implement their personal policy agenda. pic.twitter.com/mk2NpHpWEg
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) September 26, 2024
Like a broken record, Cohen used the same line he used with Piers Morgan on Ben Shapiro.
Ben thinks the Vice President dictates policy. pic.twitter.com/d9clTorOVq
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) September 26, 2024
According to Cohen, “It’s Joe Biden’s administration,” but that’s not actually accurate. Cohen forgets the fact that even before Biden and Harris took office, the administration branded itself the “Biden-Harris administration.” Even the inauguration received this treatment.
2021 BIDEN HARRIS INAUGURATION signs going up in front of the White House today. pic.twitter.com/MmnJe3LuUK
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 14, 2021
This stood out because we've never seen an administration branded in such a way, and it had many of us on the right questioning whether Biden was merely going to serve for a short time and Kamala would soon be installed as president through succession.
A couple of months into their term, federal agencies received specific instructions to refer to “the current administration as the ‘Biden-Harris Administration’ in official public communications.” This was a telling sign that it was a co-presidency.
Even more problematic to the narrative that Harris was merely a bystander in the Biden-Harris administration is that Biden revealed this week that Harris has indeed been responsible for both foreign and domestic policy.
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During an appearance on “The View” on Wednesday, he stated, “As vice president, there wasn’t a single thing that I did that she couldn’t do. So I was able to delegate her responsibility on everything from foreign policy to domestic policy.” With that admission, Biden has made it clear: Harris hasn’t just been a bystander during his presidency — she’s been deeply involved in all aspects of the administration.
BIDEN: "As Vice President, there wasn't a single thing that I did that she couldn't do and so I was able to delegate her responsibility on everything from foreign policy to domestic policy." pic.twitter.com/Uat7jXWNrO
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 25, 2024
Biden’s statement shows that Harris has had a direct hand in shaping the very areas where his administration has seen its biggest failures. The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan? She was the last person in the room. Rising inflation? She's been an avid defender of Bidenomics. The border crisis? She is the border czar!
All of these are issues that, according to Biden, Harris had the authority and ability to influence. How then can she possibly distance herself from his presidency when Biden himself acknowledges that her role was integral?
There's another reason Kamala can't divorce herself from the Biden administration. Even if you forget that she had a hand in shaping the administration's policies, the incumbent party's nominee typically is often linked to the incumbent administration. In 2008, Sen. John McCain had no role in George W. Bush’s administration, yet Obama successfully linked him to the Bush presidency, branding him an extension of the Bush-era status quo. It worked.
Now in 2024, we have a sitting vice president directly involved in every major administration decision but trying to claim that she’s not responsible for the failures. It’s a narrative that simply doesn’t hold water.
