Former Vice President Kamala Harris faced criticism after sharing a somber Fourth of July message accompanied by a photo from last year’s celebrations that cropped out President Joe Biden.
On Friday, Harris wrote on X, “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. 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.”
“Kamala cropping Joe out is very symbolic,” said Link Lauren, a former senior adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign.
X users quickly noticed that the photo Harris shared — showing her and first gentleman Doug Emhoff enjoying the July 2024 Independence Day fireworks — was carefully framed to exclude President Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
“Kamala cropping Joe out is very symbolic,” remarked Link Lauren, a former senior adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign, sharing another image from the White House balcony that clearly shows the first couple just feet away.
“[W]hose elbow is that at the right[?]” jeered another X user.
“Feeling grateful we didn’t end up with a President who posts ‘things are gonna get worse’ on the 4th of July,” remarked Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kiersten Pels.
“Among other reasons, this is why you’re not President,” added another commenter, while a third urged Harris to “just enjoy the day.”
“America is unburdened by what has been,” a fourth jabbed, echoing one of the Vice President’s signature phrases.
“Kamala sets a new record for the worst 4th of July message ever,” declared 710 WOR radio host Mark Simone.
A fourth commenter jabbed, “America is unburdened by what has been,” paraphrasing one of the Vice President’s well-known catchphrases.
Others focused on Harris’s use of the word “fight” as a hint toward her future political plans.
“[S]he’s definitely running in 2028,” one X user speculated.
“Don’t stop fighting, Kamala,” mocked Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project and a Trump ally. “And please run again in 2028.”
Since her decisive loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 election — where all seven swing states flipped Republican following Biden’s withdrawal months earlier — the California Democrat has made few public appearances.
In April, Harris delivered a somewhat unusual keynote address at a 20th anniversary gala for Emerge, a Democratic organization supporting women candidates, where she criticized the Trump administration’s economic and immigration policies without directly mentioning the former president by name.
Since her decisive loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 election — when all seven swing states flipped Republican following Biden’s early exit — the California Democrat has made few public appearances.
Recent polls indicate declining favorability for Harris and diminishing prospects of securing the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
An Emerson College survey last month showed only 13% of respondents would support Harris in the primary, compared to 16% backing former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg—who withdrew from the 2020 Democratic race after earning just 15 delegates before Super Tuesday.
By contrast, a similar poll conducted in November found that at least 37% of Democrats still supported Harris.
Insiders close to Harris told Politico that the former vice president and California senator plans to decide on her political future by the end of this summer.
Other surveys have shown stronger support for Harris. A Morning Consult poll in March found that 36% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters would back her in the 2028 primary.
However, a survey conducted the following month by Politico and UC Berkeley’s Citrin Center revealed that the same share of respondents identified as “policy influencers” were not particularly enthusiastic about her potential gubernatorial run in California next year.
According to insiders speaking to Politico, the former vice president and California senator is expected to make a decision about her political future by the end of this summer.
