Is Biden Losing Faith in Kamala Harris?

On the menu today: Two Reuters reporters quote unnamed former White House officials who describe President Biden as being frustrated with Vice President Kamala Harris. Those former officials say Biden thinks that Harris couldn’t beat Trump if she were the Democratic nominee in 2024, that she isn’t “somebody who takes anything off of his plate,” and that she’s too tentative and hesitant when it comes to engaging on major issues. We don’t know the sources who talked to Reuters, but it’s a very short list of former White House officials who are likely Biden confidantes.

Sometimes you see a quote from an anonymous source and wonder if a source really said it, or whether the source is being accurately characterized. The term “a U.S. government source” could cover a cabinet secretary or a low-level paper-pusher or a janitor. Heck, a “CIA source” could be the barista at the agency-headquarters Starbucks or the clerk behind the counter at the agency gift shop.

But sometimes you see a quote from an anonymous source and find it really easy to believe, and Reuters’ Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose have a few of those quotes in the latest “What’s wrong with Vice President Kamala Harris” story. I observed earlier this year that there are two types of major mainstream-media pieces written about Harris: The first type is a profile piece that concludes, “Harris is in trouble,” and the second type is, “Harris has turned the corner.” Over time, those “Harris has turned the corner” pieces are growing rarer and less persuasive.