Did Kamala Harris just snub Barack Obama?

Kamala Harris just delivered her first public remarks since the Democratic ticket fell apart over the weekend. But this was not the moment to address the mess, or indeed her own candidacy for president – two subjects she avoided.

Filling in for Joe Biden at a ceremony honouring the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship teams, Harris kept her remarks short. Standing outside the White House, she used her comments to lavish praise upon her boss, calling Biden’s record ‘unmatched in modern history’. (‘Yes, you may clap’ she encouraged, which led to a rather soft round of applause).

It was quite the statement, which was as long (perhaps slightly longer) than the praise she would then dish out for the NCAA champions. But it wasn’t just kind words for Biden that Harris seemed to offer up – ‘his honesty, his integrity, his commitment to his family…his big heart’. There were some rather pointed comments too, as the vice president insisted that Biden ‘already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who serve two terms.’