Former Vice President Kamala Harris faced backlash for posting a somber Fourth of July message, paired with a photo from last year’s celebration that notably cropped out her former running mate, President Joe Biden.
“This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better,” Harris posted Friday on X.
“But I love our country — and when you love something, you fight for it. Together, we will continue to fight for the ideals of our nation,” she added.
Users on X were quick to highlight that the photo Harris shared—showing her and second gentleman Doug Emhoff watching the July 2024 Independence Day fireworks—was conveniently cropped to exclude President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who had been present at the event.
“Kamala cropping Joe out is very symbolic,” noted Link Lauren, a former senior adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign. She published another photo from the White House balcony that shows the first couple just feet away.
“[W]hose elbow is that at the right[?]” teased another X user.
However, others honed in on her somber tone and claims that things weren’t going well under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Feeling grateful we didn’t end up with a President who posts ‘things are gonna get worse’ on the 4th of July,” noted Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kiersten Pels.
“Among other reasons, this is why you’re not President,” a second netizen chimed in, while a third encouraged her to “just enjoy the day.”
“America is unburdened by what has been,” a fourth needled, paraphrasing a favorite catchphrase of the former VP.
“Kamala sets a new record for the worst 4th of July message ever,” claimed 710 WOR radio host Mark Simone.
Since her decisive defeat to Trump in the 2024 election, where Republicans swept all seven swing states following Biden’s withdrawal from the race, the California Democrat has kept a relatively low public profile.
In April, Harris delivered a peculiar keynote speech at the 20th anniversary gala for Emerge, a Democratic organization that supports women running for office. During the San Francisco event, she criticized the Trump administration’s economic and immigration policies—without ever mentioning the 47th president by name.
Recent public polling shows a sharp decline in Kamala Harris’s favorability and her prospects for securing the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, the New York Post reported.
A survey by Emerson College last month found only 13% of Democratic voters would support Harris in the primary—falling behind former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who garnered 16% despite dropping out of the 2020 race early with just 15 delegates before Super Tuesday.
Back in November, the same pollster showed Harris still had the backing of 37% of Democratic voters.
Other polls have painted a more favorable picture. A Morning Consult survey in March showed Harris receiving 36% support among Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters for the 2028 presidential primary.
However, the enthusiasm doesn’t appear to carry over to a potential California gubernatorial run. In April, a Politico and UC Berkeley Citrin Center poll found that 36% of self-identified “policy influencers” expressed little excitement about Harris pursuing the governorship next year.
According to Harris allies who spoke with Politico, the former vice president and longtime California senator is expected to decide on her political future by the end of the summer.
That said, a number of prominent Democratic donors are reportedly unenthusiastic about the prospect of Harris launching a bid for California governor.
“There was more enthusiasm at first,” Mather Martin, a San Francisco-based fundraiser who has worked for past Harris campaigns, told Politico late last month. “I think it waned a bit.”
“Kamala just reminds you we are in this complete shit storm. With Biden, we got bamboozled … I think she did the best she could in that situation, but she knew about the cognitive decline too,” another donor told the outlet.
