While President Joe Biden’s support wanes, Vice President Kamala Harris is facing growing calls to replace him on the Democratic party ticket in November’s election. And it seems that all the chatter may be front and center of her mind.
In a potentially telling verbal gaffe, Harris slipped up and almost called Biden “vice president” before swiftly correcting herself as the pair put on a united front at a July 4 event at the White House. “We give thanks to our commander-in-chief, the vice… the president of the United States! The extraordinary president of the United States Joe Biden,” she told the crowd.
Standing alongside First Lady Jill Biden, the president appeared not to notice the slip-up and accepted the applause. He jovially wished the crowd a happy Independence Day, appearing nonchalant in the face of a tirade of calls for him to step aside and hand the ticket to his vice president.
It was something of a day riddled with gaffes, coming just hours after Biden declared himself the “first Black woman” to “serve with a Black president” in a radio interview. Harris has been tipped as a potential Biden replacement, while the president maintains he won’t be ‘pushed out.’
Despite Harris’ near-slip, the pair continued to show the crowd they were united in support. “By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first Black woman… to serve with a Black president,” Biden said in a stumble on local Philadelphia radio station Wurd on Thursday. Biden appeared to be highlighting his appointment of Harris as the first Black vice president as well as the first woman to hold the job.
To round off a trio of Biden-Harris gaffes, the president once again stumbled while giving a four-minute address during a barbecue for military families on the White House South Lawn earlier in the day. In the remarks, the president appeared to refer to Donald Trump, his 2024 election rival running for the Republican ticket, as “one of four colleagues.”
It comes after a tough week as the president tries to claw back some favor among both his party and voters following his dismal debate showing versus Trump last week. Biden’s second slip of the day occurred on the White House South Lawn. Jill and Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Doug Emhoff put on a united front.
Since the debate, Biden’s popularity has slipped in the polls, with Trump now leading the president by six points in a poll commissioned by The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Harris’ popularity is on the rise as a replacement for the current incumbent, finding favor with both the public, a divided Democratic party, and even (though be it sarcastically) Trump – who paid “respects” to his potentially “new Democrat Challenger.”
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found 81 percent of potential voters view her favorably compared to 78 percent for Biden. Biden campaign staffers said that they are preparing to shift their focus to elevating, then electing, Harris, people informed with the matter told The Independent earlier this week.
Yet, the president remains bullish in his stance that no one else will be running for the Democratic ticket. “I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving,” Biden said in a call to the broader campaign, a source told BBC News. He was also quick to quash claims of declining health, declaring to 20 senior governors on Wednesday that he was well following a medical assessment, reported Politico.
Over the past two years, President Biden has worked to advance racial equity and ensure the promise of America for Black Americans and all communities across the country. From increasing access to homeownership and rooting out discrimination in the housing market to promoting entrepreneurship, from reducing child poverty to historic lows to expanding access to quality affordable healthcare, from advancing voting rights and police accountability to ensuring equal access to a good education, the Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring that all African American families and communities can live with dignity, safety, and respect and enjoy true equal opportunity.
Economic Opportunity for Black Families and Communities. By signing into law the historic American Rescue Plan (ARP), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and implementing robust regulatory reform, President Biden has led the most equitable economic recovery on record, creating more than 12 million jobs since coming to office and helping create new economic opportunities for African Americans, including Black-owned businesses, and made long overdue investments in Black communities. The President’s economic agenda has led to historically low unemployment, including among Black Americans.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s vital policies and programs include:
Lowering Energy Costs and Creating Economic Opportunities Through the Inflation Reduction Act. By signing the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden is delivering on his promise to build an economy that works for working families, including Black families. President Biden and Congressional Democrats successfully fought to pass this historic legislation to help all Americans, including African Americans, who have been at the frontline of climate change, by lowering costs, advancing environmental justice while building a cleaner future, and growing the economy from the bottom up and the middle out by creating good-paying, union jobs across the country. The IRA will also lower the deficit and ask the ultra-wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share. No one earning under $400,000 per year will pay a penny more in taxes. It’s also the most aggressive action we have taken to confront the climate crisis.
Making Home Efficiency Upgrades More Affordable. Households can save up to 30% with tax credits for efficient heating and cooling equipment that will save them hundreds of dollars on utility bills. Households can also save up to 30% with tax credits for home construction projects on windows, doors, insulation, or other weatherization measures that prevent energy from escaping homes. When families need to replace or upgrade stoves, ovens, or other home appliances, they can receive direct rebates when buying more energy-efficient and electric appliances that can lower future utility bills by at least $350 per year. Families in affordable housing units will benefit from resources to support projects that boost efficiency, improve indoor air quality, make clean energy or electrification upgrades, or strengthen their climate resilience.
Creating Economic Opportunities and Good Paying Jobs. The IRA spurs solar project development in environmental justice communities by providing a 20% bonus credit for solar projects on federally-subsidized affordable housing projects and a 10% bonus credit for solar projects in low-income communities. It also creates a new Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that will seed state and local clean energy financing institutions, support the deployment of distributed zero-emission technologies like heat-pumps and community solar and EV charging, while prioritizing over 50% of its investments in disadvantaged communities. The IRA expands clean energy tax credits for wind, solar, nuclear, clean hydrogen, clean fuels, and carbon capture including a bonus credit for businesses that pay workers a prevailing wage and hire using registered apprenticeship programs – so that the clean energy we use creates good-paying jobs.
Providing Relief to Farmers. The Inflation Reduction Act includes $5.3 billion that will provide relief to tens of thousands of farmers. Of that money, $3.1 billion will help distressed borrowers pay off their farm debts without ultimately taking the land or making the farmer ineligible for future assistance. An additional $2.2 billion will go to farmers who have suffered discrimination by USDA farm programs.
Making Critical Investments in Black Families & Communities in the American Rescue Plan. When President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law, it provided a lifeline to millions of families who were struggling from the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Historic Expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) – cutting child poverty to record lows for Black children. ARP provided cash relief directly to low- and middle-income Americans, and cut Black child poverty by more than half in 2021. The expanded Child Tax Credit provided a critical lifeline to millions of Black families during the nation’s recovery from the economic crisis created by the pandemic, and the President continues to urge Congress to extend this life-changing tax relief. In addition, the ARP increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15% through September 2021. Beginning on October 1, 2021, USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan update increased SNAP benefits by $36.30 per person per month.
Supporting Child Care Providers and Reducing Child Care Costs for Black Families. Black families are nearly two times more likely than white parents to have to quit, turn down, or make a major change in their job due to child care disruptions. The American Rescue Plan provided a $39 billion lifeline to help child care providers stay open and compensate early childhood educators, as they provide safe and healthy environments for children and help parents work. States have already delivered American Rescue Plan stabilization grants to more than 200,000 child care providers, 1 in 5 of whom are Black, serving as many as 9.5 million children and their families. In most states, providers in 98% of persistent poverty counties received aid and more than half of the providers receiving funds were operating in the most racially diverse counties in the country. One survey finds that 92% of providers receiving funds relied on them to help stay open and nearly half used them to repay debt incurred during the pandemic. Many states also used funds to help boost compensation of the child care workforce, which is disproportionately led by Black women. The ARP also helped lower child care costs for all families, including Black families, including by expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit—allowing a median income family with two kids under age 13 to receive up to $8,000 towards their child care expenses, compared with a maximum of $1,200 previously.
The American Rescue Plan tripled the EITC for 17 million workers without dependent children. The American Rescue Plan nearly tripled the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers without dependent children for 2021 from $540 to $1,500 and extended the credit to younger and older workers. This was the first increase in the credit in real terms since 1993, and especially impacted front-line workers, including cashiers and retail salespeople, cooks and food prep workers, and childcare workers.
Helping Black Americans Stay in their Homes. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan has helped Americans, including Black Americans, stay in their homes by providing emergency rental assistance. Over 8 million households were served by Emergency Rental Assistance. As of June 2022, Black Americans were the largest group that received this help, representing more than 41% of aid recipients. The Administration implemented a series of measures that protected homeowners from foreclosure, including a foreclosure moratorium, increased options for mortgage payment forbearance, enhanced loan modifications to resolve delinquencies. In addition, the ARP is helping struggling homeowners catch up with their mortgage payments and utility costs through the Homeowner Assistance Fund. As a result of these protections, foreclosure filings in 2021 were at a historic low with 29% fewer filings than in 2020 and 95% below the 2010 peak experienced in the previous economic downturn during the Great Recession. In addition, the ARP provided $10 billion in funding for families and individuals who are recovering from or at risk of homelessness.
Extending a Lifeline to Struggling Small Businesses and Expanding Access to Capital. Through the American Rescue Plan and the equitable implementation of emergency relief programs, President Biden and Vice President Harris have fostered the most equitable economic recovery on record. Over the last two years, Americans have applied to start 10.5 million new businesses, making 2021 and 2022 the strongest two years on record for new business applications, and with new business creation especially strong among entrepreneurs of color. The American Rescue Plan provided emergency grants, lending, and investment to hard-hit small businesses – including Black businesses – so they can rehire and retain workers and purchase the health and sanitation equipment they need to keep.
Source: The Independent, BBC News, Politico
