Is the Biden White House looking to drive Kyrsten Sinema out of the Democratic Party? That would seem to be the unsubtle subtext of an Axios report excerpting a new book by Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns. The report is full of things obviously sourced from inside the Biden inner circle that read as potshots at Sinema for deviating from the party line:

“One person close to the president likened Biden’s perplexity at Sinema to his difficulty grasping his grandchildren’s use of . . . TikTok. He wanted to relate, but he just didn’t quite get it.” . . . In the spring of 2021, “she became the first-ever lawmaker to argue with White House aides when they asked her to wear a face mask in the company of the president, repeatedly asking why that was necessary when she had been vaccinated.” . . .

Biden aides complained that Sinema sounded more like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) than a Democrat. . . . She mocked Biden while speaking warmly about House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, and even defending far-right Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who denied the election results and claimed Antifa had infiltrated the Capitol riot. “I love Andy Biggs,” she said. “I know some people think he’s crazy, but that’s just because they don’t know him.” Separately, Sinema told colleagues five or six other Senate Dem moderates were “hiding behind my skirt” as she pushed back on the left.