In the wake of the Democrats' election defeat, one public ceremony has many people asking: What the heck is going down between Jill Biden and Kamala Harris?
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00:00In the wake of the Democrats' election defeat, one public ceremony has many people asking,
00:06what the heck is going down between Jill Biden and Kamala Harris?
00:11During a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11th, Joe Biden
00:16gave one of his final speeches as president.
00:19We're the only nation, the only in the world, built on an idea, and that idea is we're all
00:26created equal."
00:28It was a moving moment, no doubt.
00:30If you ask some, though, Biden's big moment was overshadowed by the palpable iciness between
00:35First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
00:40In a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, the First Lady steeled her jaw, kept
00:45her sunglasses on, and stared straight ahead during the remarks given by President Biden,
00:50seeming to ignore Harris, who was sitting right next to her.
00:54Of course, while some commenters suggested that Jill and Harris were simply watching
00:58the ceremony in silence, others claimed that the video proved the existence of a long-running
01:03grudge match between the First Lady and the VP.
01:06These assumptions were only compounded by the fact that Jill warmly greeted Doug Emhoff,
01:11Harris' husband, at the event.
01:13The two were seen leaning into each other and gabbing away as they waited for the speeches
01:17to begin.
01:18But as soon as Harris came to take her seat between them, Jill simply stared forward,
01:23icing the vice president out.
01:25And some online users claim that Jill has acted this way towards Harris before.
01:30The rupture between Jill and Harris supposedly began back in 2019, when Harris was running
01:35for president and campaigning against Joe Biden.
01:38In an early debate, Harris pushed back against Joe over his previous track record of supporting
01:43segregationist policies.
01:45This seems to have ruffled Jill's feathers.
01:48When it was decided that Joe would drop out of the 2024 presidential race, sources told
01:53the Daily Mail that Jill was upset about the push for him to step aside.
01:57After Joe pivoted to support Harris in her presidential bid, however, Jill begrudgingly
02:02followed suit.
02:03The First Lady attended some efforts to encourage people to vote for Harris and was behind several
02:08voter registration and early voting campaigns.
02:11However, it's possible that Jill's support for Harris boiled down to the fact that Harris'
02:16campaign was seen as an extension of the Biden presidential legacy.
02:20Now that Harris has lost the election, it seems all love has been lost between her and
02:24Jill.
02:25Indeed, Veterans Day was the first time President Biden and Vice President Harris appeared together
02:30since the election.
02:32This layered an incredibly somber tone over an already heavy holiday honoring those lost
02:37to war and conflicts.
02:39Harris was at Joe's side as he silently laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
02:43— a silence that followed Harris and Jill for the rest of the ceremony and beyond.
02:50For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org