Sen. Elizabeth Warren can’t get Vice President Kamala Harris back in favor after she ditched the idea of President Biden retaining the vice presidency in 2024.
According to CNN, Ms. Warren called Ms. Harris twice to say she was sorry for the perceived inconvenience, but Ms. Harris never called back.
The row stems from a January radio interview in which Ms. Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was asked whether Ms. Harris should be on the ticket.
“What I really want to focus on is what makes Biden comfortable on his team,” Ms. Warren told Boston Public Radio.
“I have known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was attorney general, and I was still teaching, and we worked together on the housing crisis, so we go back in time,” she said. “But they need to – they need to be a team, and I understand that they are – I don’t mean to suggest that I think there’s any problem. I think they are.’
Ms. Warren later tried to clean up her comments by releasing a statement saying: “I fully support the joint re-election of the president and vice president and never intended to say otherwise.”
“This is a wonderful team with a lot of experience working with working families,” Ms Warren said.
The damage, however, was already done. Ms. Harris, who has endured a steady stream of criticism and abuse from political friends and foes since taking office, was not going to let the issue go.
A person close to Ms. Harris described the situation to CNN as “pretty offensive.”
Ms. Warren and Ms. Harris were rivals in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Ms. Harris lost the race and dropped out before the first votes were cast.
Miss Warren also struggled. Last year, she said she would not run for president in 2024 and would focus on her Senate career.
Mr. Biden threw Ms. Harris a lifeline in 2020 by selecting her as his running mate, helping her make history as the first woman and first vice president to be elected by race. Since then, she has been heavily criticized by Democrats and, in particular, Republicans, who see her as ignorant and out of touch.
Mr. Biden has yet to announce he is running for a second term, prompting speculation that he may step aside and raise concerns about Ms. Harris potentially becoming the leader.
