What's happening: President Joe Biden is on notice after his 2024 running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, hired an anti-Biden gunslinger to be her campaign communications director.
• The veteran aide, Brian Fallon, has a history of mocking Biden's cognitive inadequacies and pressuring octogenarian Democrats to resign.
Crucial context: Fallon, a Harvard alum who previously worked for Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, and Chuck Schumer, ridiculed Biden during a Democratic primary debate in 2019. "Biden trying to complete an answer is a tender moment," he wrote. During an earlier debate, Fallon lamented that Biden had gotten a "pass" for his incoherent answer to a question about slavery.
• In 2021, Fallon criticized Biden for not caring about black people. "He’s test-driving Ford F-150s. He’s not going to Selma to talk about voting rights," Fallon complained to the Washington Post.
• That same year, Fallon spearheaded the liberal activist campaign to pressure former Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer to retire before dying from natural causes. Breyer was 82 at the time; Biden is 81 now.
Why it matters: Compelled by her boundless ambition, Harris appears to be laying the groundwork to force Biden off the ticket in 2024.
• Several days after Fallon's hiring was announced, independent presidential candidate Cornel West suggested that Biden would drop out of the race because "he's running out of gas."
• The Democratic Party has no "Plan B" if Biden decides not to run again, Reuters reported last month, which means that Harris would be in prime position to seize the nomination.
• Anyone who challenged Harris would be immediately denounced as racist for trying to stop a woman of color from reaching the White House.
Of note: Harris is one of the most widely disliked vice presidents in American history. Even her former staffers are terrified at the thought of her becoming president.
Bottom line: Watch your back, Joe.