It's no secret that Biden is still bitter about the party pushing him out of the 2024 race. According to reports, his endorsement of Kamala Harris was a calculated move to get back at Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi — both of whom wanted a more open contest to choose the next Democratic candidate. Biden’s endorsement of Kamala seemed out of place — especially given rumors that Kamala was supportive of a plan to invoke the 25th Amendment to pressure him to drop out.
There have also been reports that Biden and his allies want revenge. Do I believe these reports? Yeah, I do, because I think Joe Biden wants two things: 1) his legacy to be the only Democrat who could beat Trump and 2) to rub it in the faces of party leaders who forced him out.
So how does Biden exact revenge without making it obvious? By quietly undercutting Harris’s campaign, all while she’s trying to promote herself as a “new way forward.”
Related: Is Biden Trying to Help Kamala Lose?
After entering the race, Harris initially saw a boost in her popularity and polls by positioning herself as the “change” candidate while avoiding the media. But last month, Biden did just that during an interview on The View. “As vice president, there wasn’t a single thing I did that she couldn’t do,” Biden said. “I delegated everything, from foreign policy to domestic policy.”
Biden’s comments on The View certainly gave credence to the theory that he is still nursing a deep resentment over his ouster from the race. Despite claiming that he's made his peace with the situation, he claims, “I was confident I would beat Trump — he’s a loser.”
If Biden truly believes he would have won, he hasn’t fully come to terms with having to bow out of the race. If Harris was involved in sidelining him, Biden likely has unfinished business with her.
And his remarks during The View were just the beginning. On Friday, he made an appearance in the White House Briefing Room and once again took a bulldozer to the Harris campaign's key message.
"There have obviously been a number of crises that the country has been facing over the past several days, with the hurricane, with the port strike, with the situation in the Middle East," a reporter began. "Can you talk about how your vice president, who is running for the presidency, has worked on these crises and what role she has played over the past several days?"
Related: Here’s Why Trump Is 'Favored' to Win, Despite National Polls Showing Him Down
"Well, she's — I'm in constant contact with her," he replied. "She's aware... we're all... we're singing from the same song sheet. We — she helped pass all the laws that are being deployed now. She was a major player in everything we've done, including passage of legislation we were told we could never pass. And she's been, and... her staff is interlocked with mine in terms of all the things we're doing."
Biden says he is in "constant contact" with Kamala Harris.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 4, 2024
"We're singing from the same song sheet. She helped pass all the laws [that resulted in record high inflation]. She's a major player in everything we've done."
Biden is Kamala. Kamala is Biden. pic.twitter.com/3OGmmPKYv2
Kamala can’t position herself as the “change” candidate while Biden ties her to the failures of the Biden-Harris administration. Her supporters have worked tirelessly to distance her from Biden’s record, insisting that she had little influence over policy decisions. Yet here’s Biden, binding them together, ensuring that his unpopular presidency becomes her political baggage in the final weeks of the campaign.
"He is literally trying to destroy her campaign, and it’s just incredible," observed CNN's Scott Jennings.
That's what it looks like.
