Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza said Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris is part of President Joe Biden's administration and therefore must “take responsibility” for the president's unpopular policies.
Biden's approval rating was at 42.3% as of Tuesday, down about 10 percentage points since taking office in January 2021. According to Speaking on “Morning in America,” Cirizza said Harris would not be immune to being linked to Biden's record, particularly the US's failure to broker a ceasefire between Israel and terrorist groups and Hamas' recent killing of six hostages. (Related: Israeli forces rescue hostages in Gaza)
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'She's linked': Ex-CNN analyst warns Harris 'will have to own many of Biden administration's policies' pic.twitter.com/gEfFuB4PE7
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“I think abortion, the economy, immigration are the issues we're going to talk about the most, but what happened to the hostages over the weekend – they were killed, they were found dead – that really resonates with people,” Cillizza said. “It breaks through, and I think it's a reminder that whatever Kamala Harris does, she's going to have to carry a lot of the Biden administration's policies. That could be a good thing, but it could also be really bad if we don't find a path to a ceasefire in this situation. And at least today, their ceasefire doesn't seem any closer than it was before, and maybe even further away.”
“So this is a reminder that, yes, I think she'll start this nine-week sprint with a slight lead, but there's still a lot of time. And she's tied to an unpopular president,” he continued. “Joe Biden is unpopular, and almost all of his policies, whether it's foreign policy, whether it's economic policy, whether it's immigration policy, are unpopular with the American people. And Kamala Harris is going to have to acknowledge that to some degree over the next 63 days.”
Dan Senor, a former senior official in the George W. Bush administration, criticized Harris' comments about the Israeli-Hamas war, including her urging that Israeli troops not advance on Rafah.
“What Ms. Harris said most clearly is that Israel cannot go to Rafah. We now know that the six hostages who have been massacred in the last few days were in Rafah,” Senor said. “There are many more hostages in Rafah. It is highly likely that Hamas' high command, including Mr. Sinwar, are also in Rafah. What is the basis for the idea that VP Harris has instructed Israel not to enter Rafah?”
Democratic strategist James Carville, in a New York Times op-ed on Tuesday, urged Harris to “break decisively” with Biden on a policy agenda to ensure electoral victory over former President Donald Trump, arguing that the 2024 election is “an election of change.”
“Don't shy away from your differences with the president — embrace them respectfully and honestly. Harris's more explicit break with Biden would be no insult to Biden's accomplishments, any more than Biden's objectively more progressive policy agenda was an insult to Obama's policies,” Carville wrote. “If anything, it shows more clearly that Harris is committed to her ideas and represents change, not repetition.”
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