Vice President Kamala Harris has stepped into the political spotlight, spearheading the Biden campaign’s efforts to counter the Republican National Convention while President Joe Biden remains in COVID-19 isolation.
Currently, Harris is set to deliver a speech in a battleground state that Democrats have been eyeing to flip in their favor. The timing and circumstances surrounding her increased visibility have naturally led to speculation about the party’s contingency plans of bringing forth a new nominee, despite firm denials from the Biden campaign.
Quentin Fulks, the deputy campaign chair, addressed these rumors head-on, stating unequivocally,
“Our campaign is not working through any scenarios where President Biden is not the top of the ticket. He is and will be the Democratic nominee.”
The Biden campaign is also seizing this opportunity to draw stark contrasts between their policy positions and those of former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance. A key focus of this comparison has been reproductive rights, an issue that continues to galvanize Democratic voters.
However, the Trump campaign has not missed a beat in capitalizing on the internal Democratic discussions. Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes threw a verbal jab, saying,
“We can’t lock in a date before their convention. To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate.”
Additionally, Ben Proto, chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, launched a particularly pointed critique at the VP, stating,
“Kamala Harris was chosen for a reason and it had absolutely nothing to do with her ability to be the next president of the United States, to be the vice president of the United States. It was clearly gender and racial politics that were put in play by the Democrats.”
Patty McQueen, the spokesperson for Connecticut Democrats, condemned Proto’s comments as misogynistic and laden with “DEI dog-whistles,” a phrase used to describe a person’s veiled attack on efforts to promote diversity in leadership positions.