Biden believes Harris ‘isn’t doing enough as she fears messing up’

JOE BIDEN, the US president, is frustrated with Kamala Harris for not “rising to the occasion” and failing to take more “off his plate” for fear of failing, according to reports.

Former White House officials have suggested Mr Biden – already the oldest US president – intends to seek a second term, in part out of concern that his deputy would not be able to beat Donald Trump in 2024.

“A point of tension in their relationship is that I don’t think that the president sees her as somebody who takes anything off of his plate [because of ] a fear of messing up,” one anonymous former staffer said.

“If he did not think she was capable, he would not have picked her. But it is a question of consistently rising to the occasion.”

Mr Biden has asked his vice president to lead on a number of portfolios, including his administration’s efforts to stem the surge of migrants across the southern border, and abortion rights.

But sources close to Ms Harris reportedly told the New York Times that she was not happy being tasked with the intractable migration crisis, which is seen as a politically undesirable issue, and wanted a more “softball” foreign policy assignment.

She was criticised for failing to visit the border for months as the southern US struggled with record numbers of asylum seekers.

Ms Harris, 58, the first female and black vice-president, has a 39 per cent approval rating, according to an average of polls by Realclearpolitics. Mr Biden, 80, who has not officially declared a run, has reportedly said in private that he fears no 2024 Democratic hopeful, including Ms Harris, would be able to take on Donald Trump if he secures the Republican nomination for president next year.

Mr Biden has said he decided to run in 2020 because he felt he was the only candidate who could stop Mr Trump.

With the former president now officially running for a third time, it is speculated Mr Biden might feel compelled to compete with him again.

In a match-up between presidents 45 and 46, a national poll from Quinnipiac University in February found Mr Biden ahead of Mr Trump by two points, 48-46 per cent.

“I think his running for re-election is less about her and more about him, but I do think that she and the Democratic bench [are] a factor,” one official said.

Despite his concerns, Mr Biden is still thought to be planning to keep Ms Harris on the ticket, if he does run.

Others in his party have expressed similar, more public, unease about Ms Harris, laying bare an apparent division between the country’s highest-profile Democrats.