A Kamala Harris aide attempted to shut down an interview with Charlamagne Tha God after the vice president was asked who the "real" president is.
"I want to know who the real president of this country is — is it Joe Biden, or Joe Manchin?" Charlamagne asked Friday during his Comedy Central show, "Tha God’s Honest Truth," alluding to the influence Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.V.) has in Washington as Democrats are unable to pass their social spending bill through the Senate without his vote.
One of the vice president's aides then tried to step in and end the interview, but Harris answered the question anyway, saying that President Joe Biden is the U.S. president before accusing Charlamagne of invoking GOP talking points.
"C’mon, Charlamagne," she said, to which the host responded by saying that that he "can’t tell sometimes."
"No, no, no, no, it’s Joe Biden," Harris said. "And don’t start talking like a Republican, about asking whether or not he’s president. … And it’s Joe Biden, it’s Joe Biden and I'm vice president and my name is Kamala Harris," she continued.
Harris aide briefly interjects as @cthagod asks @VP to name the “real president … is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden?” pic.twitter.com/FRkIyxjRuP
— Katherine Doyle (@katiadoyl) December 18, 2021
She then touted components of the spending bill, such as the child tax credit that she claimed would reduce "black child poverty by 50 percent."
"I hear the frustration, but let's not deny the impact that we've had and agree also that there is a whole lot more work to be done and it is not easy to do," Harris said. "But we will not give up and I will not give up."
Additionally, Charlamagne argued that Manchin, a moderate Democrat who has expressed opposition to his party's massive spending plans, was holding up progress and hurting black people when he bucks party lines.
But Harris noted that Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate, where there is a 50-50 majority split but with Harris holding the final vote in the event of a tie, and alleged that the Republicans were united in blocking the administration's agenda.
"I think it's a mistake to try and think about this only through the lens of Democrats versus Democrats when the fact is Republicans are consistently and unanimously standing in the way of progress," Harris said.
Charlamagne said that Americans need Harris to be the "superhero who saves democracy" and pointed out that he liked her passionate response to his question about who the real president is.