Former vice president Kamala Harris expressed her regret for not urging President Joe Biden to withdraw from his 2024 campaign sooner, acknowledging that doing so might have seemed ‘incredibly self-serving.’
The revelation appears in her new book 107 Days, which goes on sale on September 23.
An extract from the book has appeared in the The Atlantic.
‘During all those months of growing panic, should I have told Joe to consider not running? Perhaps,’ Harris admits. ‘Among everyone in the White House, I was in the least favorable position to suggest he step down. Advising him not to run would have appeared to him as sheer ambition, possibly even traitorous disloyalty.’
Heading into the 2024 campaign, Harris disclosed that she naturally adhered to the White House’s ‘mantra’ that it was ultimately Biden’s choice, alongside his family, to determine if he wished to pursue reelection.
‘Was it grace, or was it recklessness?’ Harris pondered. ‘Looking back, I believe it was recklessness. The consequences were far too significant. This wasn’t a decision that should have been driven by one person’s ego, one person’s ambition. It should have transcended personal choice.’
Harris found herself in a dilemma where any hint suggesting Biden should refrain from running would be perceived as ‘incredibly self-serving,’ even when her message was merely ‘don’t let the other guy win.’
The former vice president also revealed a list of grievances with Biden and his staff.
She lamented that during the president’s speech announcing his withdrawal from his reelection campaign, her name was not mentioned until ‘nearly nine minutes into the 11-minute address.’
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attend the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trumpi
ice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff board Air Force 2 bound for California at Joint Base Andrews
Harris also noted that Biden’s ‘huge comms team’ failed to properly defender her.
‘[G]etting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible,’ she wrote, singling out Fox News for attacking her for faking a French accent during a visit to Paris.
She specifically expressed frustration in reports about her ‘chaotic’ office and high staff turnover during her first year as vice president.
Harris was defensive, arguing that part of the high staff turnover was due to her gender.
‘Working for the first woman vice president, my staff had the additional challenge of confronting gendered stereotypes, a constant battle that could prove exhausting,’ she wrote.
Harris said that every time she looked for help in the communications shop, she was ignored.
‘[W]hen the stories were unfair or inaccurate, the president’s inner circle seemed fine with it. Indeed, it seemed as if they decided I should be knocked down a little bit more,’ she wrote.
She also lamented the series of events that put her in the headlines as the president’s ‘border czar’ to handle the crisis at the Southern border.
‘No one around the president advocated, Give her something she can win with,’ she wrote.
Harris complained she was criticized by Biden’s team for delivering a speech on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in Selma, Alabama, even though the text was approved by the White House.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris pauses as she speaks at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, California
‘I was castigated for, apparently, delivering it too well,’ she said.
Harris also blamed the ‘people around’ Biden who did not like polls showing she was getting more popular with voters.
‘Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed. None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well,’ she wrote.
Harris argued that her success was important as a ‘testament’ to his judgement in choosing her as vice president, especially surrounding concerns about his age.
‘My success was important for him. They didn’t get it,’ she concluded.
