President Biden snapped “I know” after being gently reminded by his energy secretary on Friday that it was Vice President Kamala Harris’ turn to speak at a briefing on hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Harris, 59, was attending the White House briefing virtually, and when Biden, 81, appeared to be trailing off near the end of his remarks, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm gave him a nudge.
“I think we’ve saved lives, not me, but we, all of those folks out in the field have saved lives, but there’s more to do, and I’m going to do everything in my power to get it done,” Biden said as he flipped to the last page in his binder.
Granholm, 65, appeared to notice that the president had reached the end of his prepared remarks but kept on going.
“The fact of the matter is that we’re in a situation where – uh – well, we’re gonna have to …” Biden said before the energy secretary, who was seated next to the president, tapped him on the arm and pointed toward Harris on the monitor.
“I know,” Biden responded. “I’m going to go to the vice president in a second.”
“She’s my boss,” the president joked, referring to Granholm.
As Biden carried on, he was then interrupted a second time, this time by Harris.
“Hang on one second, Madame Vice President,” Biden responded.
After noting that his administration will be asking Congress for additional funds for hurricane recovery efforts, Biden finally turned it over to Harris.
“So with that, I’ll yield to the president — I mean the vice president,” Biden said to laughter.
The president has reportedly been privately complaining to allies that Harris and the Democratic Party appear to have “moved on from him” since his July exit from the 2024 race, according to NBC News.
Biden is reportedly fuming that his accomplishments and policies are not being mentioned enough by Harris on the campaign trail, as the vice president moves to distinguish herself from the president.
“He’s angry, he’s angry at her,” Trump mused at a campaign rally earlier this week, predicting that “there’s going to be an explosion before the election” between Biden and Harris.
