Will Biden become a burden on Harris in the US election campaign?

The appearance of US President Biden could become a problem for Harris: he once again made embarrassing comments in front of the cameras. This was a few days before the elections. This is in Trump's interest.

Kamala Harris just gave her closing speech on Tuesday night: She wants to be a president for all Americans, she told tens of thousands outdoors, with the White House behind her.

But then something was brewing right there, just a few hundred yards away: Joe Biden was sitting in front of the camera in a video chat targeting the important group of Latino voters.

Biden recalled how a comedian made disparaging comments about Puerto Rico at a Donald Trump campaign rally on Sunday: It was a floating island of garbage. Biden sees it differently: The Puerto Ricans he knows are all decent people. The only trash he sees floating around there are his “followers.” His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable.

But it remained unclear who exactly Biden was talking about at this point. Trump supporter?

Biden later followed up with a statement. He meant the comedian's obnoxious speech, he wrote on SMS X.

Biden is playing into Trump's hands

But by then the damage had already been done to Democrats. That evening, Trump picked up on the topic and recalled the 2016 election campaign, when candidate Hillary Clinton made disparaging comments about his supporters.

“Do you remember Hillary? She said 'miserable' and 'forever lost'. That didn't work. But 'trash' is worse, isn't it? But please forgive him for that. He doesn't know what he's saying.”, He said at an event in Pennsylvania.

Even Biden's party colleagues had a difficult time. Harris indicated today that he had clarified his statements. Otherwise, they firmly refuse to criticize the people who vote for them, the vice president said before leaving to participate in the upcoming election campaign.

Sharp tongues in the hot election campaign

Last week, Biden provided Republicans with a model. Donald Trump should be locked up, Biden told campaign staff. He added: “Lock him up politically.” He added: “Lock him up politically.”

Even if the call is “Lock her up!” (German: “Lock her up!”) originally came from Trump and referred to Hillary Clinton – and was not pronounced well from Biden's mouth. Not in the final stage of the election campaign. Therefore, Harris' team sees Biden as a problem.

Alex Thompson, a journalist at the Axios news platform, says that this president is no longer able to express himself clearly and coherently. “That's why Harris doesn't want him on the campaign trail,” Thompson told CNN.

In addition, Harris is trying to carefully distance himself from the unpopular Biden and his cabinet in order to set his own priorities. What she does not need at this moment is for the talk to be more about Biden’s statements and missteps than about her election campaign. Just days before the election, Trump and her are still neck-and-neck.