Former Vice President Kamala Harris says allowing Joe and Jill Biden to decide whether he should run for reelection in 2024 was “recklessness.” Her admission comes in the first excerpt of her forthcoming memoir, “107 Days” — named for the length of her campaign as the Democratic nominee.
‘More than a personal decision’
“It’s Joe and Jill’s decision,” Harris said in the excerpt obtained and published by The Atlantic. “We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. 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.”
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Harris pushed back on claims that Biden’s health made him unfit while conceding his age sometimes showed.
“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 reads. “But at 81, Joe got tired. That’s when his age showed up 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.”
She added, “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.”
Past tensions and lack of support
Harris says she was reluctant to raise the issue of stepping down because some Biden advisers still remembered their clashes in the 2019 primaries. She also accused the White House of failing to defend her from Republican attacks, particularly the “border czar” label.
According to Harris, aides even field narratives that left her blamed for immigration issues.
“[Biden’s team’s] thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed. None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well. That given the concerns about his age, my visible success as his vice president was vital. It would serve as a testament to his judgment in choosing me and reassurance that if something happened, the country was in good hands,” the memoir reads. “My success was important for him.”
“His team didn’t get it,” she concluded.
The setup
The excerpt from “107 Days” begins with the day Biden announced he would no longer seek reelection — backing Harris to be the Democratic nominee. But she noted he didn’t mention her name until nearly nine minutes into his 11-minute speech.
The published excerpt comes just weeks before the book’s release date of Sept. 23.
Harris’ memoir offers her most candid reflections yet on her short-lived 2024 run and Biden’s delayed decision to step aside.
Looking ahead
Harris has said she will not run for governor of California this election but has left the door open for a potential presidential run in 2028.
Biden’s team has not commented on the book excerpt.
