Agency Report
- Former US Vice President Kamala Harris criticises Biden’s decision to run, reveals internal White House tensions, and reflects on her failed 107-day campaign against Trump.
Washington, D.C. — Kamala Harris has described Joe Biden’s decision to seek a second term as US president as “recklessness”, in a searing excerpt from her forthcoming memoir 107 Days, published by The Atlantic on Wednesday.
Harris, who replaced Biden as the 2024 Democratic candidate after he abruptly exited the race, accused the former president’s team of putting personal ambition above national interest. “It wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego,” she wrote. “In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.”
Biden, then 81, shocked the political world by withdrawing from the race in July 2024 following a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump that reignited concerns over his age and mental sharpness.
While Harris denied any conspiracy to conceal Biden’s condition, she acknowledged the visible signs of ageing. “Joe got tired. That’s when his age showed — in physical and verbal stumbles,” she said. Still, she maintained that Biden, even on his worst day, remained “more deeply knowledgeable” and “more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best”.
Harris’s memoir also exposes deep frustrations with the Biden administration, particularly regarding her treatment as vice president. She claimed White House staff failed to support her and at times actively undermined her efforts. “It seemed as if they decided I should be knocked down a little bit more,” Harris wrote.
The former vice president also revealed her resentment at being left to take the political fallout for the administration’s controversial immigration policies — a vulnerability that Trump later weaponised in the campaign.
Harris ultimately lost decisively to Trump after what became the shortest presidential campaign in modern US history, lasting just 107 days — a reference to the title of her memoir, which is expected to be released later this month.
The book is likely to deepen ongoing debates within the Democratic Party about leadership, loyalty, and generational transition — and could prove a pivotal moment in Harris’s post-campaign political future.
AFP