Vice President Kamala Harris accused a Black media personality of parroting GOP talking points when he posed a question in a recent interview asking who the “real” president is.
Lenard McKelvey, who goes by the stage name Charlamagne Tha God, asked whether it was really Mr. Biden or Mr. Manchin, the centrist Democrat from West Virginia, who is running the country. Mr. McKelvey couched the question in light of ongoing White House negotiations with the swing-vote senator over the $2 trillion social spending bill.
“I want to know who the real president of this country is — is it Joe Biden or Joe Manchin?” Mr. McKelvey asked Ms. Harris on his Comedy Central show, “Tha God’s Honest Truth.”
Ms. Harris pushed back by asserting that Mr. Biden was in charge, and then accusing the host of “talking like a Republican.”
“C’mon, Charlamagne,” Ms. Harris said. “No, no, no, no, it’s Joe Biden … and don’t start talking like a Republican, about asking whether or not he’s president … it’s Joe Biden, it’s Joe Biden and I’m vice president and my name is Kamala Harris.”
The comments come as the Senate delays the passage of Mr. Biden’s signature Build Back Better Act, which would expand social and climate programs.
Ms. Harris also pushed back against the notion that Mr. Manchin was the sole cause of “holding up progress” on the negotiations.
“I think it’s a mistake to try and think about this only through the lens of Democrats versus Democrats, when the fact is Republicans are consistently and unanimously standing in the way of progress,” Ms. Harris said.
The Senate is now scheduled to return to its goal of passing the bill after Christmas, breaking the initial deadline set by the White House.
