White House attempts to downplay the problem serve only to make Harris look even more pathetically weak. Press Sectary Jen Psaki tweeted, “For anyone who needs to hear it. @VP is not only a vital partner to @POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.”

Anyway, I find this very amusing as gossip, but alarming as a citizen. Kamala Harris is a heartbeat away from the presidency. And if she should be called upon to serve, she will know fully well that the administration she would lead has not only sidelined her, but is now basically putting it out there in the press that she’s useless cargo that needs to be discarded to save the ship from sinking.

Good thing the US isn’t facing anything serious like the worst spasm of inflation in four decades and potential serious challenges to the post–Cold War settlement in East Asia and Eastern Europe.