Kamala Harris says she and Biden 'do not talk about nor have we talked about re-election'
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- Kamala Harris told the Wall Street Journal that she hasn't discussed re-election with Biden.
- "We haven't completed our first year and we're in the middle of a pandemic," she said.
- Speculation continues over whether Harris will succeed Biden as the Democratic standard-bearer.
Vice President Kamala Harris said that she and President Joe Biden have not discussed running for re-election, according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Thursday.
"I'm not going to talk about our conversations, but I will tell you this without any ambiguity: We do not talk about nor have we talked about re-election, because we haven't completed our first year and we're in the middle of a pandemic," Harris told the Journal.
Harris echoed those remarks when asked if she assumed that Biden, who would be 82 years old on Inauguration Day in 2025, would run for president again.
"I'll be very honest: I don't think about it, nor have we talked about it," she said.
This is not the first time Harris has brushed off questions about her political future. Last month, she swatted down a question from "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopoulos on whether she and Biden have discussed the 2024 election.
"Absolutely not," she said.
Biden said in March that he intends to run for reelection again in 2024 with Harris by his side. The White House has since reiterated Biden's intentions, but has not made an official 2024 announcement.
—Good Morning America (@GMA) November 18, 2021
Harris herself has been floated as a potential 2024 contender in hypothetical polls. A Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found that Democratic voters ranked Harris as their first choice in a presidential primary if Biden chooses not to run for reelection. A poll by The Hill released last week also found Harris in the lead among likely 2024 Democratic candidates if Biden isn't in the race.
But this speculation about Harris' plans comes as she faces low public approval ratings. A USA Today/Suffolk poll last month found that the vice president's approval rating stands at a historic low of 28%. Harris has also been at the center of several news reports over the past few months, with former staffers describing her office as dysfunctional and toxic. Harris' team and the White House have pushed back on the news.
In her Wall Street Journal interview, Harris said that she thinks Democrats must do a better job of selling their agenda to voters ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
"I feel very strongly that our vision of the future must be one in which everyone can see themselves, where no one is left out," said Harris. "That's about rural America, it's about suburban, urban."
Despite ongoing problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have a lot to look forward to, she said.
"There are a lot of variables that legitimately are weighing on people in our country," Harris added. "And I'll never deny anybody how they're feeling, but I know there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic, and a lot of good work that has happened that has alleviated the burdens that people carry."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3sdOB4q
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