Biden has ‘privately complained’ about how quickly Democrats have moved on from him: report

Sources close to President Biden say he has been complaining about Vice President Harris choosing to avoid bringing up his record during her recent campaign events.

Oct 1, 2024 - 17:00
Biden has ‘privately complained’ about how quickly Democrats have moved on from him: report

A new report disclosed that President Biden is feeling left out in the cold by the Democratic Party after going all in on Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

According to the Monday NBC News report, Biden has mentioned to his allies his feeling that his accomplishments and legacy as president are being forgotten by the party, especially as Harris has tried to distance herself away from her boss’ policies and forge her own political identity after replacing him on the Democratic presidential ticket.

"President Joe Biden has privately complained to allies that his name and his accomplishments have virtually disappeared from the national conversation and about how quickly the party that he has served for more than five decades appears to have moved on from him, according to six people familiar with his comments," the piece reported.

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According to these sources, the president has commented on Harris not mentioning him during recent campaign speeches, noting that he believes she should acknowledge his economic accomplishments while touting her own vision on the issue. 

"Biden has noted at times that Vice President Kamala Harris… hasn’t been mentioning him in her campaign speeches lately, including when she talks about an economy he believes his policies set on a positive trajectory, these people said," according to NBC.

Additionally, the sources told NBC that Biden "was particularly stung" by Harris’ recent line during her debate with former President Trump in which she drew a stark distinction between her and her boss. 

"Clearly, I am not Joe Biden. And I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country," the vice president said during the debate, drawing a stark contrast between her and Biden’s policies, as Trump was trying to grill her over the current administration’s record.

Those familiar with Biden’s feelings on the matter acknowledged that he still wants Harris to win and "that he plans to do whatever he can to help her," the report noted. 

An anonymous senior Harris campaign official said that Biden "always just says to her, ‘The most important thing is that you win.’" The official added, "We have to tell people who she is and what she would do."

They also noted, "There wasn’t a real interest in hearing about [Biden’s] accomplishments when he was running. That’s still the case."

However, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates denied the claims made by these sources, telling the outlet, "These uninformed claims are the polar opposite of the truth."

"President Biden welcomes the strong response the American people are having to Vice President Harris’ leadership and to policies that move us into the future, away from dangerous agendas from the past like MAGAnomics and abortion bans," Bates added. 

The spokesperson doubled down on his rejection of these claims, telling Fox News Digital they are "not" true.

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The sources have said that Biden understands the political reasoning behind shifting away from his record, though they noted it still "frustrates him at times."

"But while Biden is attuned to political realities, he also has expressed a range of emotions about his exit from the race — from feeling his legacy rests on a Harris victory to anguishing over his imprint’s vanishing from the national stage, according to the people familiar with his private comments," the article stated.

One source described his mixed emotions on the issue, stating, "It’s very complex."

Another Harris campaign official defended Harris’ pivot away from Biden, telling NBC, "She has to become her own person. She needs to do that to win."

Despite Biden’s acceptance of Harris’ candidacy, he maintains that he would have beaten Trump in November if he was still in the race. He told the co-hosts of "The View" last week that he was "confident" he could have beaten Trump and said he didn't sense an "overwhelming reluctance" about his re-election effort from fellow Democrats.

"I was confident I would beat Trump — he's a loser," he declared. 

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Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.