Biden-Harris relationship, meetings since election have been 'frosty,' report says
President Biden and Jill Biden's relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris and Doug Emoff has been rocky after the vice president lost the election to President-elect Donald Trump, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the "postelection rapport" between the Bidens and the Harris family has sometimes been "frosty," in private, citing people familiar with the relationship.
Harris took the president's place at the top of the Democratic ticket after a weeks-long pressure campaign forced Biden to drop out of the race in July. The president was lauded as a hero and a patriot for dropping out, but he's taken blame in recent weeks for not getting out sooner in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump's victory.
The WSJ noted that first lady Jill Biden had not been fond of Harris since she accused the president of opposing federally mandated busing policies during a Democratic debate in the 2020 election cycle, citing two people close to the first lady and Harris.
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White House spokesperson Andrew Bates and a spokesperson for the VP, Kristen Allen, denied that there were any ripples between the pair, according to the outlet.
During the last few weeks of the campaign, Harris' team was frustrated with the president's appearances in public. Biden made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room in early October, and then made headlines at the end of October when he said Trump supporters were "garbage," although the White House denied that was his intention.
Harris repeatedly defended the president against attacks on his age, fitness and ability to serve, even after the president dropped out.
Biden has expressed regret over dropping out of the race, according to a report from the Washington Post, and said he thinks he could have beaten Trump.
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Biden has been careful not to blame Harris while insisting to aides that he could have won, the Post reported.
According to the WSJ report, the belief that the president would have beaten Trump is not shared among other close Biden aides in the White House.
White House staffers have described the work environment as "draining" and "depressing" over the last few weeks, the WSJ reported.
Among acknowledgments of other mistakes – including his debate performance – Biden has also said that he regrets picking Merrick Garland as attorney general, the Post reported.
Fox News' Brie Stimson contributed to this report.