Liberal media downplays Kamala Harris' role as vice president, shrugging off GOP attacks linking her to Biden

The liberal media appears to be bending over backwards to disassociate Vice President Kamala Harris from the Biden administration which she currently serves. 

Politico raised eyebrows Tuesday with a story about attacks being leveled by Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. JD Vance. 

"‘Our corrupt leadership’: Vance tries to tether Harris to Biden during Michigan rally," Politico posted on social media. 

AP PANNED FOR SAYING HARRIS IS ‘HAVING IT BOTH WAYS’ AS A SITTING VP, CHANGE CANDIDATE: ‘YOU’RE LETTING HER'

Politico said Sen. JD Vance is "trying to tether" Vice President Kamala Harris to her boss President Biden. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Politico was later slapped with a Community Note on X, bluntly reading "Harris is currently President Biden’s Vice President" with a link to the White House's website listing her as Biden's No. 2. 

Politico isn’t the only outlet to imply Republicans are trying to tie Harris to Biden.

"The GOP is trying hard to tie Harris more closely to Biden on the economy, immigration and the border. One big problem: Americans don't think she played a particularly central role," Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake similarly wrote on X before citing a Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll showing most Americans believing Harris had either "just some" or "very little" influence over the Biden agenda. 

KAMALA HARRIS GRANTS FIRST INTERVIEW TO CNN AFTER WEEKS OF AVOIDING PRESS, TO BE JOINED BY TIM WALZ

Kamala Harris, who's been Joe Biden's No. 2 for more than 3-and-a-half years, is now the Democratic nominee for president.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Associated Press ran a report about how Harris is "having it both ways" as an incumbent and as a change candidate. 

"She’s the sitting vice president who has been in office for 3 1/2 years. She’s also the presidential candidate of just five weeks promising a ‘new way forward,’" the AP wrote Monday. "Kamala Harris is having it both ways as she hits the campaign trail after the Democratic National Convention, taking credit for parts of President Joe Biden’s record in rallies staged in front of Air Force Two while casting herself as a new leader who rails against ‘the politics of the past.’"

"In every presidential cycle candidates run on experience or freshness, but Harris so far appears to be successfully harmonizing two seemingly competing messages, much to the frustration of former President Donald Trump and his allies," the AP continued. 

THE MEDIA'S SUDDEN REJECTION OF KAMALA HARRIS' ‘BORDER CZAR’ LABEL

The Associated Press said Harris is "having it both ways" running as an incumbent as well as a change candidate. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The media's attempt at separating Harris from the Biden administration follows its sudden rejection of her "border czar" label she was widely known as before she emerged as the Democratic nominee. 

Axios went viral last month with its report about the "border confusion" that has haunted Harris, telling readers "the Trump campaign and Republicans have tagged Harris repeatedly with the 'border czar' title — which she never actually had." 

However, critics cited Axios' own reporting from 2021 saying that Biden had appointed Harris "border czar." Axios later added an editor's note, stating, "This article has been updated and clarified to note that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a ‘border czar’ in 2021."

MSNBC host Symone Sanders, who previously served as Harris' chief spokeswoman in the Biden administration before joining the network, lumped in the border czar claims against her former boss with "misinformation" about the VP.

"People are going to have to challenge the misinformation," Sanders said. "You already hear folks talking about the 'border czar.' She wasn't the 'border czar.' She did diplomacy in Central America, but the campaign is going to have to make that case."

ABC's Jonathan Karl sang from the same sheet of music, saying "She wasn't the border czar. That's what Republicans labeled her. She was given the job of dealing with all the migration that was coming up from Central America. But they will portray her as the one that was in charge of the border, which of course is issue No. 1 for Republicans."

This was a drastically different tone than the one Karl held in 2023 when he hyped Harris' role, telling ABC viewers "The president put Kamala Harris in a critical role in terms of trying to stop the flow of migrants across the border."

Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.