Image Source: Getty Images | Photo By Zach Gibson
Joe Biden’s poor performance in his first 2024 presidential debate with Donald Trump has raised immense concern among the Democratic Party. Some now believe that it’s high time Biden withdraws from the presidential race. Kamala Harris, his VP who has also actively endorsed and campaigned for Biden, has emerged as the main contender to replace him.
However, if some reports are to be believed, Harris hasn’t been quite popular amongst her staff or her peers. In 2020, a book titled The Truce, authored by Hunter Walker and Luppe B. Luppena, detailed that a former staff offered a harsh review when Harris was named vice president. As reported by The Guardian, the top aide warned, “This person should not be president of the United States.”
For those who don’t know, Harris launched her presidential campaign in 2020 but withdrew just a month before the first votes were cast. Her ex-staffer said, “A lot of us, at least folks that I was friends with on the campaign, all realized that, ‘Yeah, this person should not be president of the United States.’”
Meanwhile, another aide opined that Harris’ backstory was the largest factor that helped her attract supporters. The 59-year-old started the race for the Democratic primary in 2019 and did a good job in the first presidential debate, highlighting her historical stance on ‘busing’. Harris had said, “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day, and that little girl was me.” However, later she struggled to capitalize on policy proposals or launch effective attacks.
Several other issues were also pointed out by Walker and Luppen. They shared, “The problems Harris and her team had experienced on her campaign had persisted during her time as vice president. Harris saw heavy staff turnover, with aides describing a toxic climate riven with factionalism and mismanagement.” They added, “One source who worked for the vice president declined to go on record or even discuss matters anonymously, due to the heated atmosphere around the office.
They refused to characterize the experience of working for Harris, apart from offering a three-word assessment—‘Game of Thrones.’” As reported by The Hill, Harris today continues to back the incumbent. Post the debate, she said, “We always knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy.”
She asserted, “But the one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter. He is a fighter. And he is the first to say, when you get knocked down, you get back up. Many of us know what that is. So we continue to fight. And we will continue to organize. And in November, we will win.”
