Speculation swirls as top Harris V.P. contender posts and deletes statement

A top contender to be Kamala Harris' pick for her running mate appeared to say he was no longer in contention on Sunday before quickly deleting and replacing the statement that potentially indicates otherwise.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who is thought to be one of the top Democratic options for Harris' #2 spot, posted on his social media over the weekend saying, "My background is a bit different than most politicians. I spent my life serving in the Navy and at NASA, where the mission always comes first."

"Now, my mission is serving Arizonans," the now-deleted post said.

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This didn't go unnoticed by eagle-eyed social media users, who took it to mean Kelly was no longer an option for Harris' V.P. But the post was taken down within minutes and replaced with a different one.

"Whether it was from my time in the Navy and at NASA, serving in the United States Senate, or visiting our troops overseas: I've learned that when your country asks you to serve, you always answer the call," it now says.

Despite the deletion, speculation is swirling online.

"What I've been told is that Vice President Harris did the interviews today and hasn't told anybody anything. This could be just [Captain Mark Kelly] reading the tea leaves," commentator Eugene Daniels told MSNBC.

@darnidoneit said, "Mark Kelly is playing with us."

@mattlonestar wrote, "I highly doubt the Mark Kelly announcement would come as a tweet from him."

@DanaKelly7 asked, "So do we think the Mark Kelly tweet was a 'leak' and delete and more are coming?"

Journalist Yashar Ali said, "This tweet by Mark Kelly was deleted because it was being misunderstood. Likely by the same people who thought a hype video posted by a Philadelphia politician was somehow an announcement of who Kamala Harris picked for VP. Stop driving yourselves nuts."