- Politico reported that Kamala Harris' allies are unhappy with rumors about Biden's possible successor.
- Allies feel Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer are getting more attention than the vice president.
- Harris was a solid supporter of Biden and defended her administration's record after the debate.
After her widely panned debate performance between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris emerged as perhaps the president's strongest supporter.
Harris, who has built a strong governing relationship with Biden, is seen by many as the leading candidate to succeed him as president if Biden were to drop out of the race.
But some of Harris' allies have grown frustrated that Democrats like California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have been mentioned more frequently than Harris in many circles as possible candidates to replace Biden, according to Politico.
“The fact that people keep coming back to this is very uncomfortable for a lot of us,” an anonymous Harris supporter told the paper. “They still don't understand that the message you're sending to the people, to this Democratic Party, is that we prefer white people.”
Another supporter told Politico, “If they think they can get through South Carolina by criticizing a competent, capable, black woman vice president, then their instincts are just as bad as I thought they would be.”
Harris ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and many lawmakers and voters had high hopes for her campaign, but her campaign stalled after she gained support by sharply criticizing Biden's comments about working with pro-segregation lawmakers during the primary debates.
Her eventual selection as Biden's running mate was praised by many Democrats, particularly black voters within the party, and that praise only grew after she was elected vice president.
Harris is also popular among younger voters and has been the administration's most prominent reproductive rights advocate so far in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
But Harris, along with Biden, has struggled with low approval ratings for much of her term, and for her first two years in office, COVID-19 and a 50-50 Senate meant she was stuck in Washington to break tie votes on key votes.
Her low approval ratings have also led some Democrats to express concern that she may not be the best option for the party if Biden decides not to continue on the campaign trail.
