Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) continues to distance herself and vulnerable Democrats from Vice President Kamala Harris.
Over the course of a six-minute interview on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power on Monday, DelBene was asked about Harris in four of the five questions. Not once did DelBene use Harris’s name or the pronouns she or her in reference to the Vice President.
For instance, when she was asked what Harris would do differently about inflation as voters associate it with her and President Joe Biden’s administration, DelBene deflected and refused to mention the vice president:
“What do you hear from [people on the ground] when it comes to this issue, specifically of inflation and the negative association that they have when it comes to Democrats by way of the Biden administration in these past couple of years?” asked Bloomberg host Jon Mathieu. “What do you tell them? What would Kamala Harris do differently?”
“Uh, well, we talk about um how important it is that we continue to build a strong economy that works for families. We talk about the issues that are critical, the kitchen table issues, costs. People care about affordability,” she responded in part.
CONFIRMED: Suzan DelBene once again did not mention Border Czar Kamala Harris.
Answers with word salad instead. https://t.co/8r676n1V3E pic.twitter.com/Yu1nm7uA2b
— NRCC (@NRCC) July 30, 2024
DelBene’s apparent effort to avoid a possible association with Harris in Tuesday’s interview followed a similar tactic she used last week while speaking with CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju, where she also refused to utter Harris’s name.
Raju asked her if it is “a good idea for those vulnerable Democrats to align themselves with Kamala Harris” on Thursday, according to a clip shared to X by CNN’s Inside Politics on Sunday. She deflected by saying the races will be “local.”
NEW: Will VP Harris hurt or help House Democrats in competitive races? @mkraju spoke with DCCC Chair @RepDelBene and NRCC Chair @RepRichHudson for their thoughts ahead of November. #InsidePolitics pic.twitter.com/YvvPE3utEY
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics) July 28, 2024
“Our races have all been local races. They’re about our candidates and the strength of our candidates,” she said.
“You don’t think this will be nationalized?” Raju followed up
“I think every – on these congressional races, district by district, this is going to be about the candidates we have and how they’re standing up for their communities,” DelBene responded.
Meanwhile, House Republicans’ counterpart to the DCCC, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), is moving on offense with 26 additions to its Young Guns program to help mentor and support GOP candidates to run winning races. This comes as Harris’s record is coming back to haunt down-ballot Democrats in the House.
“Kamala Harris allows GOP campaigns to talk to voters with surgical precision about how she would make their lives worse with her dangerous San Francisco liberal policies,” NRCC Press Secretary Will Reinert told Breitbart News last week.
“Harris’s 2019 primary campaign for president is a Republican ad maker’s dream and a swing-district Democrat’s nightmare,” he added.
