Kamala Harris slams Joe Biden’s ego-fueled refusal to quit 2024 race as ‘recklessness’ in new book
WASHINGTON DC: Kamala Harris has delivered her sharpest critique yet of former President Joe Biden’s choice to remain in the 2024 race, describing it as “recklessness” that saddled Democrats with his “ego” and “ambition.”
The former vice president, who became the 2024 Democratic nominee after Biden stepped aside, made the remarks in a first-look excerpt from her upcoming book '107 Days', published Wednesday in The Atlantic. The book recounts her short but intense campaign.
Kamala Harris recalls Joe Biden’s 2024 decision and its fallout
Harris believes Biden was motivated by personal ambition and ego to stay in the race, even at the risk of costing Democrats the election. She argues that the decision to remain a candidate should not have been left to personal discretion.
“‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized,” Harris wrote in her book.
She added, “Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision.”
Harris said Biden’s campaign staff resisted supporting her, even when it would have helped Biden.
“When polls indicated that I was getting more popular, the people around him didn’t like the contrast that was emerging,” Harris wrote.
She continued, “None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well. That given the concerns about his age, my visible success as his vice president was vital.”
She argued her rise would have bolstered Biden’s judgment and reassured voters.
“It would serve as a testament to his judgment in choosing me and reassurance that if something happened, the country was in good hands. My success was important for him,” Harris wrote. “His team,” she concluded, “didn’t get it.”
Kamala Harris says Biden’s debate struggles were about exhaustion, not incapacity
Harris stressed that she never doubted Biden’s competence but saw the toll of his workload. “At 81, Joe got tired. That’s when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles,” Harris wrote.
She said Biden’s disastrous debate against Donald Trump was the result of fatigue.
“I don’t think it’s any surprise that the debate debacle happened right after two back-to-back trips to Europe and a flight to the West Coast for a Hollywood fundraiser," she wrote.
The former VP adds, "I don’t believe it was incapacity. If I believed that, I would have said so. As loyal as I am to President Biden, I am more loyal to my country."
Kamala Harris describes power struggles and being sidelined in White House
Harris also reflected on her position within the administration.
“Of all the people in the White House, I was in the worst position to make the case that he should drop out,” she wrote.
“I knew it would come off to him as incredibly self-serving if I advised him not to run. He would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty, even if my only message was: Don’t let the other guy win.”
She accused Biden’s staff of undermining her role instead of defending her.
Harris wrote that they often failed to highlight her achievements and even “added fuel to negative narratives that sprang up around me.”
As an example, Harris pointed to her assignment on Central American migration. “When Republicans mischaracterized my role as ‘border czar,’ no one in the White House comms team helped me to effectively push back and explain what I had really been tasked to do, nor to highlight any of the progress I had achieved,” she wrote.
“Instead, I shouldered the blame for the porous border, an issue that had proved intractable for Democratic and Republican administrations alike.”
