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Kamala Harris looks back at President Joe Biden’s ill-fated 2024 campaign and shares the red flags she noticed months before Americans cast their votes.
The former vice president, 61, appeared on the podcast “Stephen Bartlett’s CEO Diary” on Thursday, October 30th, and reflected on Biden’s re-election challenge and his relationship with the former president, 82.
The former vice president highlighted the Biden campaign’s infamous moment. It was a June 2024 debate with President Donald Trump, in which Mr. Biden appeared weak, forgetful, and frequently stumbled over his words. Harris told Bartlett that even before the debate, she sensed something was wrong with the former president.
“He called me from debate camp … and I knew something was a little off,” Harris said. “And I think what I was concerned about was that he didn’t want to discuss it, and that’s my point.”
she continued. “He didn’t want that discussion. And it’s just like any other competition you participate in, whether it’s sports or not, whether you bid on something or not, right? If you don’t want to be in the competition, it absolutely affects your performance. I’m sure he didn’t want to have the discussion.”
When Bartlett asked how he knew, Harris replied, “Well, we talked about it. I think he was talked into it.”
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty
Harris said she watched that night’s debate with a small team in Los Angeles so she could respond “honestly.” She noted that she knows that “there is no such thing as a perfect debate,” and that it is inevitable that candidates will make mistakes in their statements.
“There’s going to be some cleaning up to do, and I expected that,” she said. “And, you know, we saw what we all saw.”
Harris recently published a memoir, 107 Days, detailing the 2024 election and her history-making presidential bid. While promoting the book in an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow last month, Harris said she was worried it would be seen as “selfish” to advise Biden not to seek re-election.
Maddow asked Harris about a passage in her book in which she claims everyone in the Biden administration believes Biden and then-first lady Jill Biden should decide whether to run.
“We all said it like a spell, as if hypnotized,” Harris wrote. “Was it a blessing or was it reckless? In hindsight, I think it was reckless.”
Harris said that while speaking with Maddow, she realized that “I had, and had, certain responsibilities that I should have fulfilled.”
“When I talk about recklessness, I’m talking about myself first and foremost,” she added. “As we know, so much was at stake. And as I write, you know, where my head was at the time, it would seem completely…completely selfish.”
Maddow asked Harris if telling Biden not to run again would be considered “selfish,” to which Harris replied, “Yes, or even if you have to question whether it’s a good idea.”
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When Biden withdrew from the race in July 2024, Harris picked up the torch and secured the Democratic nomination. She ultimately lost the election to President Trump, but recently said she was open to running for president again.
Appearing on the Sunday BBC program with Laura Kuenssberg earlier this month, Ms Harris said her grandnieces would “definitely in their lifetime” see a woman elected president. Asked if it could have been her, Mr. Harris said, “Maybe.”
“I’m not done yet,” she said, adding, “I’ve lived a life of service all my life. It’s in my bones.”
