By contrast, if Donald Trump runs for the Republican nomination, it currently seems improbable that he would face any competition from within his own party.

Ms Harris’s current polling average gives her less than 40 per cent approval among the US public.

That makes her one of the least popular vice-presidents in modern history.

Democrat officials say it is too early to press the panic button, but donors and operatives are starting to look elsewhere.

There is increasing frustration about Mr Biden’s lack of progress, and calls for him to pass the torch to a new generation, not necessarily Ms Harris.

One former Democrat White House official said: “I would like to see a new standard bearer for the moderate wing.”

“A lot of us expected a lot more. We did not expect the kind of debacles in Afghanistan, and with France, and on the border.”

“While it was always going to be a tough ride this has taken several dangerous detours that were not necessary.”

Other Democrat politicians who ran in 2020, more successfully than Ms Harris, are maintaining their public profiles.