Kamala Harris commemorated July 4th with a social media post taking an obvious jab at her former election rival, President Trump. While her lament for the state of the nation was unsurprising, Harris raised eyebrows with a cropped image that left Joe Biden out of the picture.
Whether intentional or not, Biden's exclusion from the scene underscores how quickly he has become a pariah among Democrats who would like nothing more than to leave his presidency in the past.
The photo shows Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff watching fireworks from the White House balcony.
"This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better," Harris wrote.
"But I love our country - and when you love something, you fight for it. Together, we will continue to fight for the ideals of our nation," she added.
Social media users criticized the bleak tone of Harris' message, and what some saw as pettiness toward her former boss.
"At least take his arm out of the shot when you crop it," one user wrote.
Rumors of tensions between Biden and Harris circulated frequently during his presidency, and Biden's insistence that he would have beaten Donald Trump in 2024 - something Harris was unable to pull off - has only widened a rift between Biden and his former running mate.
Biden endorsed Harris to take his place on the presidential ticket after a pivotal debate performance that effectively ended his political career. Rather than bow out gracefully, Biden put up a spirited fight with his own Democratic party before suspending his campaign.
It's a fight that is still, in a way, ongoing. With his presidency in shambles, Democrats are dismayed that Biden is still making the rounds of the media to defend his tarnished legacy.
There is nobody in the party who is liable to take greater offense to Biden's attempted comeback than Harris, who believes, like many Democrats, that Biden dragged her down to defeat with his quixotic dreams of re-election and stubborn refusal to face reality.
While Democrats have focused on blaming Biden, Harris' candidacy also had serious flaws. The vice president floundered in one interview after another, despite the efforts of the media to prop her up, much as they had done with Biden before he fell from favor.
Months after his presidency ended in disgrace, Biden has quickly become a historical footnote, to the point where even his vice president apparently doesn't feel any obligation to recognize his existence. But Republicans are pressing ahead with a probe into Biden's cognitive decline, to the annoyance of Democrats, who are appealing to Americans' desire to move on. While many would rather forget the Biden era, Republicans argue the public is entitled to know who was governing on Biden's behalf during a chaotic time for the nation.
As for Harris, she is testing the waters to run for governor of California, but Democrats are far from enthusiastic about the prospect.
