Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran as the Democratic candidate in last year's U.S. presidential election and lost, criticized former President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection bid as "recklessness" in her memoir 107 Days, to be published on the 23rd.
Born in 1942 and of advanced age, Biden insisted on a reelection bid last year despite opposition around him and became embroiled in controversy over deteriorating health. At the time, after being routed in the first TV debate against then-Republican candidate and now-President Donald Trump, Biden dropped out mid-race amid public opinion that he could no longer continue as a presidential candidate. Harris belatedly inherited the candidacy and campaigned for 107 days, but was soundly defeated by the Republican Party in key swing states. Harris's soon-to-be-released memoir 107 Days takes its title from this.
According to excerpts of the memoir released by The Atlantic on the 10th (local time), Harris recalled the mood within the Democratic Party surrounding Biden's reelection bid as "as if everyone were hypnotized, chanting only that 'it's Joe and Jill's decision.'" She continued, "Was that dignity, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness." She strongly criticized Biden's decision, writing, "The stakes were too high. It was not a choice to be left to individual ambition or pride."
She also detailed the sense of isolation she experienced at the White House. Harris said that Biden's top aides regarded her as a threat. "Their thinking was zero-sum. If I shone, he (Biden) would be dimmed," she said, adding, "No one understood that my success was the president's success." She claimed that when Republicans attacked her as the "border czar" or a "DEI hire," the White House communications team offered little defense. She even added that she "came to learn that Biden's aides were adding fuel to the negative stories that sprang up around me."
Harris also said she was in a dual and difficult position of having to urge Biden to forgo a run. "Me advising Biden not to run would have appeared to be extremely selfish," she said, adding that it would have looked like "naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty."
However, she drew a line in saying there was "no problem" with Biden's health, which had sparked controversy throughout the campaign. "Biden was a smart person capable of performing the duties of the presidency," she said. "But at age 81, when he was tired, physical and verbal slips appeared."
Harris also added an account of the June 27, 2024 TV debate, the decisive moment of last year's election. The debate went down as "a disaster" for Biden. From the outset, he spoke with a noticeably hoarse voice and struggled to string sentences together. He often kept his mouth open with a blank expression. While explaining the national debt, he made an unclear remark that "we finally beat Medicare," and also made the mistake of confusing "billion" and "million." The listless display heightened voter concerns about his age and health and ultimately became the decisive trigger for his decision to step off the path to reelection. Harris analyzed that the debacle was "because of the forced march that followed immediately after a tour of Europe."
Once the memoir's contents were released, the Democratic Party was thrown into turmoil as searing anger, cautious agreement, and deep concern mixed together. In particular, Biden's close allies vehemently pushed back against Harris's claims. They were enraged that Harris had made Biden a scapegoat to cover her own political failure. Political outlet Axios on the 11th quoted a former White House official who requested anonymity as saying, "Vice President Harris was simply not good at the job," and "she played little substantial role in any core function of the administration." Another former aide said, "Staying silent when it mattered and criticizing only now is an act without courage."
Among Democratic strategists, there was concern about the abruptly published memoir. The more the family feud intensifies, the deeper the wounds will be, and in the end only President Donald Trump and the Republican Party will benefit, they judged. Former Chief of Staff Ron Klain told The Washington Post that "Harris, by asserting her own voice, is further damaging Biden's already tattered political legacy." Senator Chris Coons, considered one of Biden's closest allies, also cautioned on CNN that "rehashing past debates does nothing to help the party" and said, "Now is the time to focus on the Trump administration."