WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Kamala Harris spent her first two weeks in office working with the president on coronavirus relief, consulting with the head of the World Health Organization and talking to the Prime Minister of Canada.
However, it is her interview with a local news station in West Virginia that is getting more attention – and not in a good way.
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate whose support is critical to the success of President Joe Biden’s agenda in Congress, did not support the vice president’s attempt to oust him in his home state. practice, kindly applied by insisting on $ 1.9 billion virus relief package, especially when he did not warn that it was coming.
‘I could not believe it. Nobody called me, “Manchin later said on the same TV station. “We’re going to try to find a dual path forward, I think we should. But we have to work together. This is not a way to work together. ”
Manchin’s criticisms were voiced in the White House Information Room, even appearing in the daytime talk show “The View” on ABC and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS.
The flap was an early sign of some problems facing Harris as she determined her position within the White House.
“Harris has a challenge finding out what her role is, what her specialty is in this White House,” said Joel Payne, a longtime Democratic strategist.
Harris also misrepresented some details in her West Virginia interview, referring to “abandoned landmines” instead of “abandoned minefields” in coal land.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked twice during Monday’s briefing on Harris and her West Virginia remarks and gave little insight into how the interview came about, saying only that ‘our focus is on dealing with the American people to communicate ‘about the coronavirus bill.
And by Tuesday, Manchin himself wanted to move past the controversy and tell reporters that it was just a ‘mistake’ and that ‘no apology was needed’.
In addition to appearing in West Virginia, Harris also interviewed the editors of the state’s largest newspaper, as well as a newspaper and local television station in Arizona, and put pressure on the state’s Democratic senators – two moderates whose support Biden will support. must also pass its COVID-19 package.
While Harris’s overall role remains undefined, she and Biden both said during the transition that she would be the “last vote in the chamber” on major decisions, just as Biden was for President Barack Obama. Indeed, it is said that Harris views Biden’s vice presidency as a model for her own.
Harris spokeswoman Symone Sanders noted that Harris “worked closely with Biden” and “attended almost every briefing, meeting, and meeting.”
Harris reached out to members of both parties on Capitol Hill and called on mayors and governors to present the COVID-19 package. She also spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Director-General of the World Health Organization and held a round table with small business owners to discuss coronavirus help.
Twelve years ago, Biden and Obama took office representing many different generations and different approaches to politics and policy. They eventually became good friends and Obama entrusted Biden with the application of the 2009 Recovery Act to revive the economy and with the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
Harris’ chief of staff during her time as attorney general in California, Nathan Barankin, predicted that her ability to get in touch with others would make her a compelling replacement for Biden if she could connect with the public.
‘It’s a constant in every briefing or interaction with Kamala Harris on policy decisions. And that is, how does it affect real people? He said.
Payne, who is black, said Harris’ position in history as the first black and South Asian woman to serve as vice president offers her new opportunities, but that it could also lead to complications.
‘Challenges have been seen and unseen for the first black woman in this position to quarrel. She will constantly have to ask herself the question: Would a former vice president be so criticized? he said.
Even if Harris assistants say she will play a central role in the government’s efforts to sell its COVID-19 package to the public and on Capitol Hill, where she served as first senator until earlier this month, Biden said even longer deeper relationships with many senators are key to the bill. And he is perhaps a more popular figure in some of the senatorial states than Harris, who was seen as more progressive than Biden during the primary election.
In an evenly divided Senate, if Democrats decide to pass their COVID-19 bill through a budget maneuver that only needs majority support to succeed, Manchin is the key to the Democrats’ chances.
Indeed, the White House issued Manchin after the message came back to them that he was dissatisfied. And before the interview, Biden made his own outreach to Manchin by phone, as the two remain friendly from their time in the Senate.
Even after the interview, Harris’ assistants said she called lawmakers to advocate for the bill and hear their concerns. She is expected to continue to push for legislation in public interviews and other events.
They also say that she will be particularly concerned with the issue of the Black community over the bill as well as the COVID-19 vaccine, with the aim of overcoming the skepticism surrounding vaccinations within color communities.
While the vote of Manchin will be needed to make the emergency relief package look like, Harris, as president of the Senate, will vote the ballot in the event of a 50-50 split on the bill or other important pieces of legislation. in the future. The responsibility is definitely to keep Harris close to the Capitol when the big bills approach.
The White House has said for the time being that it is avoiding travel, in line with the recommendations of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is looking for ‘creative’ ways to sell the aid package, such as town halls and targeted interviews.
Historian Joel Goldstein noted that the ability to cast the casting vote is an important opportunity, which could define Harris’ vice presidency much further than the end of her first term or any earlier forks she could make on TV.
“To the extent that he has to break his votes, he will be able to claim credit for taking actions that are important to democratic constituencies,” he said.