Vice President Kamala Harris defends her role as approval rating plummets

Following an article by CNN this week that claimed Vice President Kamala Harris is being sidelined by President Biden and his staff, Harris defended her position, and the administration's slipping poll numbers, in an interview with ABC's Good Morning America Thursday morning.

ABC's George Stephanopoulos questioned Harris if she believed she was being misused as Vice President, a claims stated by the CNN article.

"No. I don't," Harris said. "I am very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished but I am also absolutely, absolutely clear-eyed that there is a lot more to do and we're going to get it done."

Stephanopoulos went on to ask Harris about the administration’s sliding poll numbers. Harris' approval rate tumbled to a low of 28 percent earlier this month in a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of registered voters.

"We had a tough poll for the president this week at ABC News with The Washington Post, highest disapproval of his presidency, shows that most Americans don't think the administration is keeping its promises. How do you explain that, and how do you fix it?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"Polls, they go up, they go down, but I think what is most important is that we remain consistent with what we need to do to deal with the issues that we're presented with at this moment," Harris responded.

The poll cited by Stephanopoulos found that 41 percent of Americans approve of Biden's job performance as president. It also found that just 39 percent approve of how Biden is handling the current economic state America is facing. 70 percent of Americans rate the economy negatively, including 38 percent that say it's in "poor" condition.

Biden's popularity was found to be waning amongst his own political base, the poll found. 94 percent of Democrats approved of Biden's job performance in June, compared to 80 percent when the poll was conducted earlier this month.

"Americans are feeling pretty sour about the economy as we head into the holidays. It's going to cost more to drive home for Thanksgiving, more to put the turkey on the table, more to buy gifts for the kids at Christmas. What can you do about these high prices? How long is it going to take?" asked Stephanopoulos.

"Well, first of all, it's real, and it's rough. Groceries, the cost of groceries has gone up, the cost of gas has gone up," responded Harris.

Stephanopoulos also questioned Harris about the border, a job that she was placed in charge of. Crossings at the border have skyrocketed under the Biden Administration.

"Eight months ago the president gave you the job of addressing the root causes of migration. But last month, we learned that in the past year have the highest number of illegal border crossings since they started to be recorded in 1960. What are you doing to turn that around? How long will it take?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"Well, it's not gonna be overnight, we can't just flip a switch and make it better," she responded.

Responding to CNN's article about the Biden administration sidelining Harris, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that Harris was being judged more harshly because "She is the first African American woman, woman of color, Indian American woman to serve in this job."

"I mean, so many firsts, right? It's a lot to have on your shoulders," Psaki told Politico on Wednesday. "She is somebody who, at a much higher level than the rest of us, but who wants to be seen as the talented, experienced, you know, expert, substantive policy person, partner to the president, that she is. But I do think there have been some attacks that are beyond because of her identity."