Harris Enjoys Renewed Spotlight Amid Doubt Biden Will Be Able To Continue

Vice President Harris is enjoying growing attention — and scrutiny –- as doubts grow about President Biden’s ability to win the 2024 presidential race in the wake of his disastrous debate performance last week.As Mr. Biden faces increased security in the press concerning his age and fitness, support for Ms. Harris is growing among Democrats, as is negative attention from President Trump.Although elected Democrats, including Ms. Harris, have mostly rallied around Mr. Biden in the days after the debate there’s been a distinct uptick in the attention given to Ms. Harris.The spark of the phenomena was a recent CNN poll that found that Ms. Harris would outperform Mr. Biden in a matchup against Trump, with Mr. Biden trailing Trump by 6 points and Ms. Harris trailing by just 2 points, within the margin of error.While other names have been floated as replacements for Mr. Biden, should he chose to step aside, like Governors Whitmer, Newsom, and Pritzger, Ms. Harris is already Mr. Biden’s named successor and would inherit his camping funds should he drop out. Transfer of funds to a different candidate would be more complicated.This would be important for things like ad buys — campaigns enjoy a discount rate — but also because it could allow the Democrats to replace Mr. Biden, should he step down, without wasting more time in an open convention.Congresswoman Summer Lee spoke to this issue during a radio interview, saying “Maybe folks don’t want to hear, but we have timing that is running out. Time is not on our side.”“We have a few months to do a monumental task. It’s not cheap and it’s not easy. If our president decides this is not a pathway forward for him, we have to move very quickly,”Ms. Lee said. “There’s not going to be time for a primary. That time is past.”She added that “The vice president is the obvious choice. She’s sitting right there. She’s already been in the White House. And has the name recognition. And has been on the trail.”Ms. Harris’s emergence as Mr. Biden’s heir apparent has led to a groundswell of new attention, both online and from Republicans like Trump.Trump, on Thursday morning, labeled Ms. Harris with the epithet “Laffin’ Kamala Harris,” in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. Trump called her “our potentially new Democrat Challenger,” seeming insinuating his Trump’s campaign also called her “Cackling Copilot Kamala Harris,” focusing again on her iconic laugh, an topic Ms. Harris has addressed on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” saying “I have my mother’s laugh. And I grew up around a bunch of women in particular who laugh from the belly.”Axios now reports that the Trump campaign is also creating a contingency plan for Ms. Harris becoming the nominee, and that they are concerned about Trump’s ability to restrain himself from attacks against a Black and South Asian American woman.The renewed attention given to Ms. Harris in light of Mr. Biden’s position in the campaign has, however, also led to a renewed version of the “K Hive,” a name given to Ms. Harris’s online supporters that is a playful reference to the fans of Beyonce who are known as the BeyHive.The K Hive renaissance has seen a great proliferation of memes and mock-up material for a hypothetical “Harris 2024” campaign, often highlighting Ms. Harris’s history as a prosecutor and the contrast she could draw against Trump, a convicted felon.While users on social media platforms have been quick to show support for Ms. Harris taking Mr. Biden’s spot at the top of the ticket, Democratic officials have been reserved in expressing their thoughts on the topic.A former Ohio congressman, Tim Ryan, is one of few Democrats who has called on Mr. Biden to drop out and endorse Ms. Harris as his replacement.The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has, according to the Washington Post, indicated that, if Mr. Biden were to drop out, Ms. Harris would be his first choice as a replacement.Congressman James Clyburn, who was critical to Mr. Biden’s 2020 primary win, has also indicated that he would support Ms. Harris, though he’s also said he would want to have a “mini primary” to hear from other potential candidates.

Harris Enjoys Renewed Spotlight Amid Doubt Biden Will Be Able To Continue

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