Kamala Harris heads to Paris to mend fences with an old ally

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with reporters last week after a failed vote in the Senate on the bill for the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Vice President Kamala Harris will begin one of the highest-profile gestures in the Biden administration’s intense fence-mending mission with France on Tuesday when she arrives in Paris for several days of ceremonies and speeches designed to repair a rare fracture in the close relationship with America’s oldest ally. Harris’ visit follows Biden’s meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron late last month at the Vatican before a gathering in Rome with the Group of 20 leaders from the world’s biggest economies. “Kamala Harris was given sort of the border issue, which is no treat,” said Fried, referring to Harris’ diplomatic role in discouraging Central American migration. White House officials say she will focus on “converging global crises, but including, in particular, the challenge of rising inequality and the need for leaders around the world to join together and take bold action.” The message is in contrast to Trump’s “America First” doctrine that alienated many European allies, part of the Biden administration’s effort to promote the notion that “America is back” on the global stage.