Harris and Buttigieg jockey for position as Biden’s star wanes
Speculation that Joe Biden may step aside has pitched Harris and Buttigieg into rivalry amid talk of tension between them.
Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg presented a united front with a joint trip to North Carolina yesterday after a string of leaks about their growing rivalry.
Harris, 57, the vice-president, and Buttigieg, 39, the transportation secretary, visited Charlotte to promote President Biden’s one trillion dollar infrastructure law, part of his ambitious Build Back Better plan.
Signed into law by Biden two weeks ago after a tussle with his fellow Democrats in Congress, the legislation was a rare piece of good news for the administration after a troubled second half to the year.
Biden still insists he plans to seek a second term in 2024, but he turned 79 last month and there is growing doubt about his willingness – and ability – to serve into his eighties.
Speculation that he may step aside has pitched Harris and Buttigieg into rivalry for their party’s nomination.
The White House has been rife with chatter about tension between them.
In a happier administration there would be no rumours of a leadership contest at all.
Harris was elected as Biden’s vice-president by 81 million Americans only one year ago, and should be sure of the nomination if he steps aside.
But she has been dogged by weeks of dismal headlines after a string of gaffes, and there are reports of a rift with the president. The slump in her approval ratings has been worse than Biden’s, falling to 28 per cent in one poll and making her the least popular vice-president in modern history.
Buttigieg has been largely unscathed. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, briefly led the nomination race last year, but stepped aside as the party majority coalesced behind Biden.
As transportation secretary he is implementing the infrastructure law and has one trillion dollars to spend.
Harris has been saddled with voting rights reform and resolving the immigration crisis on the southern border. She is reported to have complained that these assignments give her no chance to shine.
When Buttigieg was pilloried by Fox News for taking paternity leave when he and his husband, Chasten, had twins in October, the White House leapt to his defence. An unnamed former aide to Harris told CNN: “It’s hard to miss the specific energy that the White House brings to defend a white man, knowing that Kamala Harris has spent almost a year taking a lot of the hits that the West Wing didn’t want to take.”
Buttigieg has dismissed the gossip as “parlour games”. The talk was hardly dampened, however, by the release of Mayor Pete, an Amazon documentary on his campaign last year.
The Republicans need to flip only a handful of seats at next year’s midterm elections to take control of both houses of Congress, crippling Biden’s administration.
Despite the admiration for Buttigieg in the White House there is scepticism that he stands a chance in 2024, and Biden is thought to be convinced that only he can defeat Donald Trump.
The Times
More Coverage
Lies and conspiracy theories seducing our schoolkids
Teachers have told a landmark survey that they feel powerless to combat the spread of misinformation from social media, even when children know it’s untrue.
Island’s ice melting at a cracking pace
Hungry polar bears in Greenland have been known to wander into town from the melting sea ice in search of food – one was shot and turned into polar bear soup.