“[T]hey focus on me because they don’t want people to focus on what the Biden-Harris administration has delivered.”
Vice President Kamala Harris may be taking the brunt of Republican attacks as the 2024 presidential election draws near, but she isn’t taking the hits sitting down.
Speaking to news outlet Politico, Kamala Harris said that her focus will be on her advocacies rather than attacks from political opponents.
“There are so-called leaders who aren’t focused on tackling the issues or challenges this country is facing,” she said. “I’m not going to be distracted from my priority around maternal health. I’m not going to be distracted [from] my long-standing commitment to support small businesses knowing that so many, especially minorities and women, don’t have access to capital,” the vice president added.
Kamala Harris, Republican punching bag
Many GOP leaders, particularly presidential hopefuls, have made Harris a target for attacks.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is currently embroiled in a war of words with the vice president, largely over the latter’s stinging criticism of a controversial African-American history curriculum for middle-schoolers that allege that slaves benefitted from their circumstances by learning “skills” that they could use for personal gain.
“I’ve got Kamala Harris coming down to Florida trying to create phony narratives because she understands Florida has stood up to the left’s agenda. She thinks she can come down and lie about what we’re doing,” the governor said.
Nikki Haley, who was a former U.S. ambassador and governor for South Carolina, takes a different but common tack – scaring Republicans that Harris would eventually become president, given President Joe Biden’s advanced age and purported dip in cognitive ability.
“A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. That’s who we’re actually running against. We have to make sure she doesn’t win,” she stated in an interview with Fox News.
“Every liberal knows it. They know that it’s Kamala Harris that’s going to end up being president of the United States if Joe Biden wins this (2024 presidential) election,” she added.
Wyoming Senator John Barrasso agrees, telling colleagues who are working to impeach President Biden, “I think people don’t want Kamala Harris to take over.”
A Republican strategist, speaking anonymously to Politico, affirmed the strategy, “She is a bogeyman that Republicans can use when it comes to pushing their message. A President Harris would be even worse than a President Biden because she campaigned as a progressive fighter and had to moderate herself when she became Biden’s running mate.”
The White House has her back
But while Harris’ satisfaction polls remain dismal, and some question her benefit to the Biden re-election campaign (never mind her being a better fundraiser than even the president), Democratic strategists are hopeful that her larger visibility, especially on the same progressive topics and issues Republicans like to demonize – abortion rights, civil rights, and gun control – will resonate with Democratic voters.
Many also believe that her tough stance and unwillingness to back down play to her strengths, especially given her background as a prosecutor.
“The issues where she’s out in front happen to be the ones that people care about the most and that motivate our base,” a Biden campaign aide told Politico.
And despite what critics and detractors from the GOP say, the White House seems solidly behind the vice president, releasing a memo to donors, supporters and political strategists highlighting the critical role Harris plays in the Biden re-election effort.
“As we enter the heart of the 2024 cycle, Vice President Harris is positioned once again to be a strong political force and invaluable asset to the Biden-Harris reelection effort,” according to part of the memo, which was acquired by ABC News.
The vice president was also touted as a “fearless voice on many of the issues that are most important to the core voters in the Biden-Harris coalition.”
Tim Ramos has written for various publications, corporations, and organizations – covering everything from finance, politics, travel, entertainment, and sports – in Asia and the U.S. for more than 10 years.
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