On the White House South Lawn, Vice President Kamala Harris praised the man she is likely to replace atop the Democratic ticket, telling an assembly of student athletes that “I am firsthand witness that every day our president, Joe Biden, fights for the American people.”
But Harris hasn’t seen Biden in a week. And they haven’t seen much of each other this summer. Their working relationship, and subsequent friendship, has always been complicated by hectic schedules and international travel – including Biden’s trip to France just last month – making it difficult for the president and vice president to sit down in one place together for very long.
The pair have met face-to-face just six times since the beginning of June, according to a RealClearPolitics analysis of the president’s public schedule.
The latest meeting took place one week ago for a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. A political lifetime has passed since then.
Biden announced abruptly Sunday, via a post on X.com, that he would not run for reelection and promptly endorsed Harris for the job. It will now likely be up to her to keep the White House for Democrats and continue the work of Biden, who, in just four years, she said Monday, “has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office.”
More than a month earlier, Biden and Harris were both on the South Lawn for a Juneteenth celebration. On June 10, the vice president could be seen dancing to the music along with second gentleman Doug Emhoff. But the president, he froze.
The cameras caught Biden on tape looking lost. “The president stood there listening to the music and he didn’t dance,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later told reporters. “Excuse me, I did not know not dancing was a health issue.”
Biden and Harris met for lunch the next day, the president’s public schedule shows. Shortly after his inauguration, the president promised the vice president lunch “once a week,” an optimistic schedule that Biden often failed to keep, an earlier analysis by RCP found.
The White House and Biden campaign insisted for years that Biden had not lost a step, that he was, as Jean-Pierre told RCP, “as sharp as ever.” But for 90 minutes in Atlanta, the worst fears of Democrats were inescapable. The age and diminished mental acuity of the 81-year-old elder statesman were on full display as he meandered and mumbled through answers.
Democrats started to abandon ship. Fears once whispered about his mental fitness were suddenly being shared on cable news. Harris, for her part, never abandoned Biden. She conceded, as he had to donors during a San Francisco fundraiser in July, that the debate was “not his finest hour.” But she insisted, “the outcome of this election cannot be determined by one day in June.”
Harris next saw Biden on July 3, again for a lunch at the White House. The next day, the vice president joined the president for a Fourth of July celebration, taking in the fireworks from the South Lawn. On July 8, Harris joined Biden for his presidential daily brief.
Harris, until recently, served as the most high-profile surrogate for the Biden campaign, crisscrossing the country on her own to fundraise and rally supporters. She was in Kalamazoo, Michigan, last Wednesday, then Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Saturday, stumping faithfully for a ticket that would soon disintegrate.
Biden and Harris last shared a stage in Philadelphia on May 29. It was hosted by the campaign, and the vice president spoke first, introducing Biden as a president who “not only knows how to fight, he knows how to win.” Biden stepped to the microphone moments later after applause and chants of “Four more years!”
“Thank you, Kamala, for your partnership,” he said. “And it is a partnership. And how about another round of applause for our great vice president,” he continued. “Isn’t she something else?” Fifty-four days later, he would be gone.
Biden announced last week that he had again tested positive for COVID-19. The president retreated to his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, where he announced that he would not seek reelection. He remains in quarantine, though his physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in a memo released Monday that his symptoms “have resolved almost completely,” and he “continues to perform all of his presidential duties.”
Those duties do not include addressing the nation as of now. Remarks from the outgoing president are expected but not yet scheduled. Neither the White House nor the vice president’s office returned RCP’s request for comment.
On Monday, after Biden gave Harris his blessing, she traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, where their campaign headquarters are located. The president called in remotely before she arrived.
“I know yesterday’s news was surprising and hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do,” Biden told assembled staff over the phone.
“The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” he continued.
The outgoing president then asked his campaign to work as hard as they could for Harris in the coming weeks and months. He won’t be going anywhere soon, though. “I won’t be on the ticket, but I’m still going to be fully, fully engaged,” Biden concluded. “I’ve got six months left of my presidency; I’m determined to get as much done as I possibly can. Both foreign policy and domestic policy.”
Harris, during that time, is again expected to be away from the White House and the president.
