Vice President Kamala Harris is not receiving unanimous endorsements from Democratic Party leaders, with one congressman notably breaking with his party on Friday. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who has consistently supported President Joe Biden on Capitol Hill, declined to endorse the new nominee. This decision came on the same day that former President Barack Obama endorsed her, joining a number of other prominent figures in the party.
The Maine Democrat told a Portland television outlet “absolutely not” when asked whether he backs Harris at this critical moment. Additionally, he was among six Democrats who sided with all the House Republicans in condemning the vice president for her shortcomings as the head of the administration’s border policy.
While he awaits to see “what her vision for the future of the country is,” Golden said in a statement that Harris must work to earn the trust of Maine voters, especially as it appears she is on a glide path to secure the party’s nomination without a serious challenge at next month’s convention in Chicago. “I expect to have to work to earn Mainers’ votes and our candidates for President should expect the same. Kamala Harris has been a candidate for president for less than a week, and I look forward to learning more about what kind of leader she would be,” he told WGME.
On Thursday, six Democrats in the House voted in favor of a resolution criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration and Harris for their “failure to secure the United States border.” H.Res. 1371, introduced by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, formally denounced “Border Czar” Kamala Harris for her immigration policy following her role in reducing illegal immigration along the southern border during the early days of the Biden administration. The House approved the resolution with most Democrats voting against it but a half-dozen joining 214 Republicans in supporting it.
“By every metric, Kamala Harris has failed to secure our borders, instead advancing Far Left Democrats’ failed open border policies and the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of Americans. My resolution condemns Kamala Harris’ role as Joe Biden‘s open border czar and affirms that the American people deserve elected officials who understand the gravity of the crisis at the border and will work to secure the border,” Stefanik, of New York, noted on X in a post that contained a video of her House floor speech.
WATCH:
By every metric, Kamala Harris has failed to secure our borders, instead advancing Far Left Democrats’ failed open border policies and the needs of illegal immigrants over the safety of Americans.
My resolution condemns Kamala Harris’ role as Joe Biden‘s open border czar and… pic.twitter.com/Uzzn54N7Yq
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) July 25, 2024
Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Mary Sattler Peltola of Alaska, Golden, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Yadira Caraveo of Colorado voted in favor of the resolution “Kamala Harris, every elected Democrat, and their stenographers in the mainstream media will run from their record, but they can’t hide,” Stefanik said. “House Republicans will hold Kamala Harris accountable for her role as Biden’s Border Czar leading to the most catastrophic border crisis in modern history.”
