Vice President Kamala Harris is “the future of the Democratic Party,” the White House declared Wednesday as leading Democrats and their allies position themselves to replace President Biden as the party’s nominee if the 81-year-old president steps aside.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pronounced Harris as Biden’s political heir, at one point referring to her as “president,” when asked about his 2020 campaign remark that he would be a “transitional” candidate.
“One of the reasons why he picked the vice president, President [sic] Kamala Harris, is because she is indeed the future of the party,” Jean-Pierre said at her regular briefing.
Harris, 59, faces stiff potential competition for the Democratic presidential nomination, including from Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, 56, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, 52, if Biden steps aside following his disastrous debate performance last week against former President Donald Trump.
Some leading Democrats fear that Harris, whom they pan as awkward in public engagements, would boost Trump’s chances even further — though a poll released Tuesday by CNN showed Harris trailing Trump by 2 percentage points nationally, versus Biden’s six-point deficit.
“She would cackle her way all the way to the Oval [Office] if she could,” a Democratic detractor told The Post.
