One hour and twenty-five minutes, for eternity. Either the time during which Kamala Harris assumed the functions of President of the United States. That day, Nov. 19, Joe Biden, 79, was undergoing a routine colonoscopy. This lightning-quick replacement came at a delicate time for the Vice-President. Questions are increasing in the press, but also in the Democratic Party, on its ability to embody the future. To reassure the Americans, in the event of failure of the commander-in-chief. To establish itself as the natural candidate of his camp for the future, after the mid-term elections, in eleven months. 1is December, Politico revealed the imminent departure of its spokesperson, Symone Sanders, a few weeks after that of Ashley Etienne, director of communications.
The problem comes less from the polls – his curve follows that of the president, which has been declining since August – than from his difficulty in finding his voice and his voice. Aged 52, Kamala Harris must both demonstrate her loyalty to the president and impose her personality, she, the first woman in this post, with such rich origins, a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. If Hillary Clinton – despite her long political career – has known prejudice, sexism and illegitimate trial, one has to imagine what the American Vice President is undergoing. His actions and words are scrutinized, looking for the slightest deviation.
His recent official visit to Paris illustrated this. It was to allow Kamala Harris – former California attorney general, then state senator for four years – to strengthen her credibility abroad. While continuing to relaunch the bilateral relationship with France, the Vice-President participated in the international conference on Libya. During his welcome at the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron offered him a relaxed tour of the palace. According to the entourage of the French head of state, the long official interview that followed was rich and studious, the American vice-president showing in particular a strong interest in space, beyond the expected issues such as Ukraine or online security.
Privileged but ungrateful position
However, it is an insignificant episode of the stay which crossed the Atlantic. With her husband, Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris visited a renowned kitchen utensil store near Les Halles in Paris. She stared at the wall of copper pots, before making her choice. How could she foresee the controversy that would trigger, over the following days, certain conservative American sites, emphasizing the amount of its acquisitions (approximately 500 dollars or a little more than 440 euros)? And this, just after having mocked her for having supposedly imitated the French accent during a visit to the Institut Pasteur. But these short-cut controversies also sometimes reveal a lack of vigilance on the part of the vice-president. At the end of September, she had not corrected a student who mentioned in front of her the “Ethnic genocide” which Israel would engage in against the Palestinians, forcing its cabinet to launch a demining campaign with Jewish organizations.
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