Liberal Columnist Calls on Kamala Harris to Come Out Against ‘Toxic’ Biden’s ‘Unpopular’ Positions: He’s a ‘Liability’

AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File

Jonathan Chait , a liberal columnist for New York Magazine , is calling on Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to throw her boss under the bus.

Under the headline “Kamala Harris Should Cut Joe Biden Loose,” Chait summed up a New York Times report about the Harris campaign struggling to balance her considerable connection to the Biden-Harris administration — as well as her personal loyalty to the president — with his unpopularity before asking, “Why is this a struggle? Why not directly repudiate unpopular Biden positions?”

“Rather than trying to balance loyalty to Biden against catering to the desires of the electorate, Harris’s strategy should focus entirely on catering to the public with no attention whatsoever to Biden’s feelings,” wrote Chait , who submitted that “there is no rule requiring Harris to own every action Biden has taken.”

“She can even say that she disagreed with him. Her role as vice-president was to give the president candid advice in private and support him in public, but now that she is running for his job, she can advocate her own ideas,” he continued , calling the president “on the whole, a liability for Harris.”

“Exactly why Biden has proven so toxic has confounded Democrats. I sympathize with their bewilderment,” concluded Chait. “At this point, alas, public opinion is what it is. And I fear that Democrats have allowed their sentiment that Biden has gotten an unfair rap to cloud their judgment.”

According to the Times’ report, “Ms. Harris and her advisers are girding for a variety of debate attacks — including over her ties to Mr. Biden,” and those same advisors have pointed out that she has already introduced some policies that they hope will make her appealing to voters and to members of the business community, and strike a subtle contrast with Mr. Biden.”

In a new Times /Siena College poll, 61% of likely voters indicated that the next president should mark a contrast from Biden.