BREAKING: Biden says ‘she’s not as strong as me’ at Ethel Kennedy’s funeral, Obama agrees: expert analysis

According to the Post, when the presidents spoke at Ethel Kennedy’s funeral in Washington, an expert lip reader was able to clearly pick up some of what they said in an off-mic conversation. “She’s not as strong as me,” Biden told Obama, apparently referring to Harris.

"I know… that’s true,” Obama said in response, adding, "We have time," per the Post.

“Yeah, we’ll get it in time,” Biden told the former president in response. The two presidents’ conversation was analyzed by Jeremy Freeman, a forensic lip reader that was born deaf and has been an expert witness for journalists as well as police for 16 years, per the Post.

Harris’ name was not directly mentioned in the transcription from Freeman; however, it would not appear to reference any other person aside from the Vice President. The Post spoke to some Democratic sources, some thought it was an honest conversation about the state of the election while others reportedly did not believe the lip reader's translation.

“From the outset, there has been widespread concern that Harris was not a strong alternative to Biden, who clearly was a sinking ship. So much so [that] multiple House members floated the idea of an open convention or removing Harris from the ticket along with Biden,” one Democratic source told the outlet. “Democrats essentially robbed Peter to pay Paul and are now stuck with a less likable sinking ship."

“A ‘lip reading expert’? Did your usual right-wing soothsayer have their out-of-office up? Only President Biden and President Obama know what they discussed, but this certainly wasn’t it," said Andrew Bates, Biden's spokesman.

A couple of former Biden White House staffers who are working for Harris commented that the outlet needed “a new lip reader” and another said that it is “not even like [Biden] to say that” about Harris.

As reported by the outlet, one person close to Obama did not deny the lip reader's translation of the conversation, but added, “Only President Obama and President Biden know what they discussed yesterday. Any assertion otherwise is ridiculous.”

The relationship between Biden’s as well as Harris’ teams has been reportedly fraught as of late, with the president appearing to undercut Harris on multiple occasions after Biden stepped out of the race earlier this year.