English
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Chinese (Simplified)
Hindi
Japanese
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has blasted the “recklessness” of then-President Joe Biden’s controversial decision to run for a second term — writing in her forthcoming memoir that the choice should not have been “left to an individual’s ego.”
The ex-veep’s stunning dig at her former boss was laid bare in an excerpt of her book, “107 Days,” which was obtained by The Atlantic on Wednesday.
“Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness,” Harris writes of her decision not to convince Biden to drop out of the 2024 race earlier.
“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.”
Still, Harris defended her decision not to chime in “during all those months of growing panic” about Biden’s cognitive health as a sign of her being a “loyal person.”
She said that “the American people had chosen him before in the same matchup,” staying quiet about her own concerns because “It was just possible he was right about this, too.”
“And of all the people in the White House, I was in the worst position to make the case that he should drop out. 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.”
“’It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized.”
Harris goes on to claim that she would have stepped in if she feared Biden was incapacitated.
“Many people want to spin up a narrative of some big conspiracy at the White House to hide Joe Biden’s infirmity. Here is the truth as I lived it. Joe Biden was a smart guy with long experience and deep conviction, able to discharge the duties of president. On his worst day, he was more deeply knowledgeable, more capable of exercising judgment, and far more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best,” the excerpt says.
“But at 81, Joe got tired. That’s when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles. 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.”
“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,” she writes.
