Viral video clip shows Jill Biden ignoring Kamala Harris while seated together at Veterans Day event
Even before President Joe Biden was forced by his own Democratic Party to end his re-election campaign and step aside for Vice President Kamala Harris, there had been rumors that first lady Jill Biden was not a fan of her husband's running mate and would-be successor.
Now, following VP Harris' decisive loss to President-elect Donald Trump, that purported enmity toward Kamala from Jill seemed apparent when the latter blatantly ignored the former while seated together at a Veterans Day event on Monday, according to Fox News.
A video clip of the public "cold shoulder" moment went viral on social media and spurred plenty of speculation about whether and how much dissension there may be between the outgoing first lady and vice president.
Video suggests that "Jill Biden hates Kamala Harris’s guts"
On Monday, in honor of the nation's military veterans, President Biden delivered remarks and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, with both the first lady and the vice president looking on from the seats while seated next to each other.
A video clip on social media showed Harris approaching her seat after most everybody else was already there while greeting and shaking hands with some of the other VIP spectators, such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The first lady appeared to not even acknowledge Harris as she settled into the seat next to her and instead stared straight ahead through her dark sunglasses. In sharing the viral clip, conservative pundit Steve Cortes quipped, "It’s safe to say that Jill Biden hates Kamala Harris’s guts."
It’s safe to say that Jill Biden hates Kamala Harris’s guts. pic.twitter.com/K6Te9Onf50
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) November 12, 2024
Jill gave Kamala the "cold shoulder"
Fox News noted that numerous conservative and independent figures commented on the apparent frigid reception VP Harris received from first lady Jill at the Veterans Day memorial event and pointed out how Jill "refused to even look at Kamala" and instead "ignored" the replacement candidate for her elderly husband after his bid for a second term faltered over the summer.
"They’re not taking the loss well," conservative commentator Benny Johnson surmised. "Watch Jill Biden evidently give Kamala the cold shoulder as she arrives at Arlington National Cemetery. Kamala shook everyone’s hand before swiftly racing past Jill as the cameras were rolling."
One user suggested that "Whoever seated them together hates them both," given the apparent dislike, while another speculated that it could be evidence of a growing "rift" between different factions of the Democratic Party.
The blame game and long-held grudges
The suggestion that there is currently a post-election "rift" in the losing party is not entirely off-base, as Axios reported last week that the respective camps for both President Biden and VP Harris were blaming each other for their defeat at the hands of President-elect Trump.
Indeed, the Harris camp has argued that Biden should never have mounted a re-election campaign, much less stayed in the race as late as he did, while the Biden camp insists that he could have won if allowed to see the race through to the end and have accused the Harris camp of mismanaging a winnable opportunity.
Of course, the speculative dislike of Jill toward Kamala long predates the 2024 election and actually goes back to a grudge held since the 2020 election, when then-candidate Harris viciously attacked then-candidate Joe during a Democratic primary debate and overtly insinuated that he was racist toward black Americans, according to The Guardian in 2022.
Per a behind-the-scenes book about the Biden White House, Jill is reported to have complained of her husband's choice for running mate and VP, "There are millions of people in the United States. Why … do we have to choose the one who attacked Joe?"