USA Debate about Biden: Vice Harris moves into focus

In the debate about US President Joe Biden's suitability as a presidential candidate, the focus is increasingly turning to his deputy Kamala Harris. While heaps of speculation about a possible change in the Democrats were circulating on social media in particular - "Kamala" was trending in the politics section on the online platform X - former President Donald Trump's campaign team went on a verbal frontal attack against the Democrat.

"The Democrats are starting to rally behind Kamala Harris because it can no longer be denied that Joe Biden is unfit for office," it said in an email from the Republican opponent. Trump's team drew the enemy image of a politician from the US state of California, known as a Democratic stronghold, and listed everything that speaks against a Harris presidency.

The debate was further fueled online, particularly on X. A number of posts revolved around the so-called "K-Hive", a sometimes ironic nickname for supporters of the Vice President. In addition to speculation on the current situation, numerous internet memes were also shared. On the website PredictIt, where bets can be placed on political events such as the nomination of a US presidential candidate, Harris even overtook Biden on Wednesday evening German time. Just a few days ago, she had been given little chance of becoming a candidate.

Since his botched performance in the TV duel against Trump, the most powerful Democrats have largely refrained from publicly criticizing Biden. However, there are rumblings in the back ranks of the party - on Tuesday, Congressman Lloyd Doggett became the first incumbent Democrat in Congress to call for his withdrawal. Earlier, former congressman Tim Ryan had published an opinion piece on "Newsweek" entitled: "Kamala Harris should be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024." Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn didn't go quite that far. He backed Biden, but also said he would support Harris in the event of a withdrawal.

The White House continued to maintain today that Biden would not drop out of the race and firmly denied media reports about the US President's alleged thoughts of withdrawing. In response to a question about Harris' future role, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre simply said she would not comment on hypothetical scenarios.

SDA