'It's very complex': Biden struggles with being out of the national conversation

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has privately complained to allies that his name and his accomplishments have virtually disappeared from the national conversation and about how quickly the party that he has served for more than five decades appears to have moved on from him, according to six people familiar with his comments.

Biden has noted at times that Vice President Kamala Harris, who took his place at the top of the Democratic ticket in July, hasn’t been mentioning him in her campaign speeches lately, including when she talks about an economy he believes his policies set on a positive trajectory, these people said.

And he was particularly stung by one of the recent notable times when she did talk about him — during this month’s debate with former President Donald Trump, three of the people familiar with his comments said.

“Clearly, I am not Joe Biden,” Harris said at the time, adding: “And I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.” She made the remark in response to Trump’s contention that “she is Biden” as he tried to make the case that Harris’ and the president’s economic policies are no different.

Follow live updates on the 2024 election

Details of Biden’s mixed feelings about the messaging of a campaign he painstakingly abandoned offer a window into how he has been settling into his extraordinary decision to step aside from seeking the Democratic nomination and endorse his vice president. His private comments also reflect a transition in Harris’ campaign while she’s staking out her own ground as a candidate and navigating a key question voters have about her candidacy: how she would differ from Biden.

This account of the president's private