VP Harris Checks Charlamagne For Asking If Manchin Is "The Real President"

Even when Kamala Harris is on Comedy Central, it’s a serious matter.

Source: Kent Nishimura / Getty

Vice President Kamala Harris’s appeared on Tha God’s Honest Truth with Charlamagne Tha God on Friday to discuss the Biden Administration’s first year, her work behind the scenes, and the path to political progress. According to People, the interview ended with a heated exchange when Charlamagne Tha God pressed about how the administration will deal with Sen. Joe Manchin “ruining the country.”

Harris redirected the criticism to Republicans, who have resisted their policies at every turn, threatening voting rights and reproductive justice.

“I think it’s a mistake to try and think about this only through the lens of Democrats versus Democrats, when the fact is Republicans are consistently and unanimously standing in the way of progress,” Harris diplomatically responded.

Charlemagne refused to let Harris or Manchin off the hook about the political standstill. “We need you to be the superhero who saves democracy … Are you willing to be that superhero?”

The Vice President expressed her frustration and the Democrats’ determination to “keep fighting” for key issues like voting rights and police reform, which the Republicans fought at every turn.

“Who’s the real president of this country? Is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden?” Charlamagne finally asked after getting no specific answers about the senator’s obstruction.

“Come on, Charlamagne. It’s Joe Biden,” Harris said. “No, no, no, no. It’s Joe Biden. And don’t start talking like a Republican about asking whether or not he’s president. It’s Joe Biden. And I’m vice president and my name is Kamala Harris. And the reality is because we are in office, we do things like the child tax credit, which is going to reduce Black child poverty by 50 percent … It is the work of saying we’re going to get lead out of pipes and paint because our babies are suffering because of that. It is the work of saying people who ride public transit deserve the same kind of dignity that anybody else does. So, let’s improve that system.”

We never got a direct answer to Charlamagne’s questions like “do you think Joe Manchin is a problem?” Like Harris said earlier when asked if she attributes unfair scrutiny to being a Black woman, she wants to focus on the work ahead of the administration and what they’ve accomplished so far.

Watch the full interview below.

What do you think? Did Charlemagne’s questions go too far or did Vice President Harris’ answers fall short?