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‘Joe Biden got tired’: Kamala Harris calls his reelection run ‘recklessness' in new memoir
Harris, who replaced Biden in 2024 but lost to Trump, said the then 81-year-old often grew “tired” and showed slips that exposed his age.
Former US vice president Kamala Harris has described it as “recklessness” to allow Joe Biden to seek a second term in office, according to an extract published on Wednesday from her forthcoming memoir.
Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee in 2024 but was defeated by Republican Donald Trump, acknowledged that the then 81-year-old often grew “tired” and was vulnerable to slips that revealed his age.
Biden shocked observers by withdrawing from the race in July 2024 following a disastrous debate with Trump that intensified concerns about his age and mental sharpness.
Harris ultimately suffered a decisive loss to Republican Trump after running what became the shortest presidential campaign in modern US history, lasting just over three months – the 107 days that give her memoir its title.
Harris also accused Biden’s White House team of not supporting her during her time as vice president, and at times even working to obstruct her.
In the first extract from 107 Days, published by The Atlantic magazine, Harris said she was a “loyal person” but questioned whether, amid the “months of growing panic, should I have told Joe to consider not running?”
“‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotised. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness,” Harris wrote, referring to Biden and his wife Jill.
“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,” she said.
‘It was clear there were issues with his age’
Harris denied that there had been any conspiracy to hide Biden's condition but said it was clear there were issues with his age.
“On his worst day, he was more deeply knowledgeable, more capable of exercising judgment, and far more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best,” she wrote.
“But at 81, Joe got tired. That's when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles.”
Harris also lashed out at White House staff, whom she said failed to support her when she was vice president, saying that Biden's team did not want her to outshine her boss.
“When 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,” Harris wrote.
Shouldered blame for Biden's immigration policy
Harris stated that she had “shouldered the blame” for Biden’s border immigration policy, which Trump exploited during the election.
She further pointed to a March 2024 speech where she criticised the humanitarian crisis stemming from Israel’s war in Gaza, breaking with Biden’s administration.
“It went viral, and the West Wing was displeased. I was castigated for, apparently, delivering it too well,” Harris said.
“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed.”
Harris further expressed disappointment that Biden scarcely mentioned her in his televised Oval Office address after stepping down from the race and endorsing her as the Democratic nominee.
“It was almost nine minutes into the 11-minute address before he mentioned me,” she said.
(With AFP inputs)
