Vice President Kamala Harris' recent trip to Latin America went as poorly as you'd expect. Trying to focus on problems in countries like Mexico and Guatemala that predate the Biden-Harris administration only reinforced the perception Harris wants nothing to do with what is happening at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Even the White House has let it slip, to CNN, that they are not happy with how Harris handled questions about the border, with the prime example coming during her interview with NBC News in which she was clearly unprepared to be asked about a border trip—despite the issue being raised for months.
"There was certainly progress, but there are now concerns that some of that progress may have been overshadowed by her answers to some of these questions that her team knew that she would be facing,” CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond said on Wednesday. "It’s left some of the administration officials perplexed, and the vice president’s team frustrated."
"Some administration officials are quietly perplexed about the Vice President’s answers to some questions, in particular the particular question she got from Lester Holt where she equated the question about the border with Europe. There was hope the trip would be a success, and in the end, they feel it may have been overshadowed by some of her answers to these questions," Diamond added.
Fellow White House correspondent John Harwood also reported on Wednesday that Biden officials "were not thrilled" by her answer to why she has yet to visit the border.
I wrote yesterday about the real reason Harris does not want to go see the mess the Biden administration helped exacerbate.
While defenders of Harris say it's solely Republicans who are going after her for not making a trip to the American southwest, some Democrats have voiced support for the idea of a vice presidential visit. Even MSNBC host Brzezinski said on Wednesday going to the U.S.-Mexico border "should have been a priority."
If the issue of bad optics during the trip is a concern for the White House, Harris proved why those concerns were valid when protesters in Guatemala City told her to "go home." Later she was seen wearing a mask when meeting with Mexico's president, who was not masked, despite being outside and both being vaccinated against COVID-19.
Kamala greets Mexico president wearing a mask, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez does not
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) June 8, 2021
Kamala Harris got first dose of Moderna vaccine in December 2020
Obrador received the AstraZeneca shot in April pic.twitter.com/SD9k3Ysnm3