President Joe Biden's short-lived role as a campaign surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris is over.
With days left before the presidential contest is decided, the Harris campaign has no plans to bring Biden along on the trail, NBC reported.
The snub comes as Harris has tried to define herself as a fresh face to voters eager for change.
“He’s out there doing the job as president, and she’s out there campaigning,” one anonymous White House official said, adding: “It’s clear voters want something new.”
Biden will quietly support Harris by tapping his political contacts, the report said, particularly with labor leaders, as Democrats fear losing working-class voters who backed "Scranton Joe" four years ago.
Biden has been seldom seen or heard since he ended his re-election campaign in July under pressure from Democrats. He still has not spoken with Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), his friend of decades who orchestrated the shocking plot to force him off the ticket.
Adding insult to injury, the Harris operation is leaning on appearances from Barack and Michelle Obama, the party's biggest stars, to put Harris over the top.
It's no secret that Obama has long been dismissive of his former vice president's ambitions, and Obama did not use his influence to stop the coup against Biden this summer.
“Harris has to be establishing herself as a change agent, and it’s hard to do that with a sitting president at her side,” one longtime Democratic strategist said.
Months after his brief, spirited effort to stay in the race, Biden appears to have, rather sadly, acquiesced to his diminished role. At an event last week, he pledged that Harris will "cut her own path."
“Folks, Kamala will take the country in her own direction," he said last week.
At times, Biden has appeared to undercut Harris' message in recent days, leading to speculation that he is trying to sabotage her.
Harris' messaging has been wildly inconsistent. She told The View during a late media blitz that she had no major criticism of Biden's record.
In a combative interview with Fox News last week, Harris promised to chart a new path, without sharing specifics.
"My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and, like every new president that comes in to office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas. I represent a new generation of leadership," Harris told him.
