'Was recklessness': Kamala Harris opens up about Biden's re-election bid
What's the story
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris has delivered her harshest criticism yet of Joe Biden, calling his decision to run for a second term "recklessness" in her upcoming memoir, 107 Days. "It's Joe and Jill's decision...Was it grace, or...recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness." Harris also wrote that Biden's choice to run for re-election "should have been more than a personal decision." "This wasn't a choice that should have been left to an individual's ego," she wrote.
Decision scrutiny
Should I have told Joe not to run: Harris
Harris admitted that she wondered if she should have advised Biden against running. She said, "During all those months of growing panic, should I have told Joe to consider not running?" "Perhaps," she wrote. Harris also wrote that, as VP, she was in the "worst position" to advise Biden not to run again. "I knew it would come off...as incredibly self-serving if I advised him not to run,..He would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty."
Support criticism
Inner circle 'undermined' me, says Harris
Harris also accused Biden's inner circle of undermining her work and not defending her against negative coverage. She said, "And when the stories were unfair or inaccurate, the president's inner circle seemed fine with it." This included criticism over immigration policies, where she was mischaracterized as "border czar." "No one in the White House comms team helped me...effectively push back and explain what I had really been tasked to do, nor to highlight any of the progress I had achieved."
Defense criticism
White House didn't defend me against personal attacks: Harris
Harris also slammed the White House for not defending her against attacks on personal matters. She said Biden's team "rarely pushed back with my actual resume" when conservative media attacked her "on everything from my laugh, to my tone of voice, to whom I'd dated in my 20s, or claimed I was a 'DEI hire.'" She claimed she "often learned that the president's staff was adding fuel to negative narratives that sprang up around me."
Thinking criticism
West Wing's '0-sum' thinking slammed by Harris
Harris also slammed what she called the West Wing's "zero-sum" thinking." "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. 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," she concluded.
Memoir release
Memoir set to be released this month
Harris's memoir is set to be released this month. The first excerpt of her book 107 Days was published by The Atlantic on Wednesday. The book details her campaign experience and reflects on the national conversation around Biden's age and mental acuity. Biden withdrew from the 2024 race after a poor debate performance against then-Republican candidate Donald Trump. The debate performance raised concerns about Biden's age and mental capacity to govern the country. Harris ultimately lost the race to Trump.