Kamala Harris’s team is concerned that Democrats will install a white candidate ahead of her to replace Joe Biden, arguing that it would be “offensive” to black voters to overlook her should the president stand aside.
Mr Biden is facing calls to step back from the race over concerns about his age, after a disastrous television debate performance against Donald Trump on Thursday.
The Biden campaign, which is a joint ticket between the US president and Ms Harris, has dismissed calls for him to step aside for a younger candidate.
Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governors of California and Michigan, have so far been at the centre of speculation about a replacement nominee.
“The fact that people keep coming back to this is so offensive to so many of us,” an ally of Ms Harris told Politico.
“They still don’t get that the message you’re saying to people, to this Democratic Party, is, we prefer a white person.”
Another source added: “If they think they are going to get through South Carolina bashing an effective and qualified black woman vice president — their instincts are as bad as I thought they were.”
