Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to appear in suburban Detroit on Friday when her boss, President Joe Biden, appeared to steal the spotlight by making a surprise appearance at the White House news conference just before taking the stage to deliver remarks .
It was the first time the president appeared in the briefing room. CNN took note of the dueling performances as they occurred.
“We were actually about to go live with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now speaking in Detroit, Michigan,” host Boris Sanchez said on air.
“And apparently she’s talking about the end of the strike at the port, she’s trying to appeal to union workers, and yet the president of the United States comes out, clearly overshadowing her and answering important questions,” he continued.
Sánchez wondered if it was a “communication error”? Doesn’t the left hand talk to the right hand in this situation?’
President Biden and Vice President Harris had dueling events Friday that led to a CNN anchor claiming the president “overshadowed” the Democratic presidential nominee with his performance
Political strategist Frank Luntz, a guest on CNN, responded that if the two parties had coordinated “this wouldn’t have happened.”
Harris was in Redford Township, Michigan, on Friday afternoon, where she spoke about the importance of organized labor and praised first responders as she spoke to a room of firefighters and union members.
Her appearance next to a fire truck at the Redford Township Fire Department North Station comes as the firefighters union declined to endorse Harris or Trump in 2024.
The failure to approve is seen as a blow to the vice president after the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), which represents more than 350,000 firefighters, emergency responders and other medical personnel, became the first union to endorse President Biden in 2020.
“You have a profession that is more than a profession, it is truly a calling,” Harris told the crowd after receiving a warm welcome. She noted that her brother-in-law is a retired firefighter in California.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks Friday at an event at the Redford North Station Fire Department
Michigan Democratic presidential candidates’ appearance with firefighters comes after the firefighters’ union refused to join the presidential race in an apparent snub
“I know what you do, and I know your character,” Harris said. “I know your families. I know what it means to the entire community that you are all taking on the lives you have decided to live, and I am so grateful to you.”
She praised them for working “long shifts with unpredictable hours” in “some of the most dangerous conditions.”
Harris said she is grateful for the union that supports them and for their rights to “everything they deserve in terms of wages and benefits.”
She was introduced by the president of the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union.
The IAFF is the latest major union to withhold an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race. Last month, the Teamsters union declined to endorse a presidential candidate, though several local chapters threw their support behind the Democratic candidate.
Harris praised the firefighters Friday for the work they do. During her remarks, she also celebrated that the port union had reached an agreement to end the strike
President Biden’s surprise appearance in the White House briefing room came just as Harris was scheduled to speak. It was the first time he appeared for a briefing there as president
During her appearance, Harris also addressed the International Longshoremen’s Association and agreed to suspend a strike that closed major ports just weeks before the election.
Harris expressed support for union workers this week after the strike began on Tuesday. On Friday, the vice president praised the deal, saying “they did a good job.”
“Everywhere I go, I say that collective bargaining benefits everyone,” Harris said.
Later in her speech, Harris labeled Donald Trump an “unserious human being,” pausing before saying the word “human being,” as if she would have liked to say something else as she went after him on healthcare and the treatment of American workers .