Thanks for the update, Kamala.
The vice president awkwardly assured would-be 2024 voters in a Sunday night interview that President Biden “is very much alive and running for re-election” — despite mounting concerns from Democrats, liberal donors and everyday Americans about the incumbent’s age.
“We were talking to some Democratic donors and they have told us that, should something befall President Biden and he is not able to run, that there would be a free-for-all for who would run as president,” CBS News’ Bill Whitaker told the veep of the 80-year-old commander in chief on “60 Minutes.”
“You are in the spot that that would be a natural for you to step up, but we’re hearing from donors that they would not naturally fall into line. Why is that?” Whitaker asked.
Harris responded: “Well, first of all, I’m not gonna engage in that hypothetical ‘cause Joe Biden is very much alive and running for reelection.”
“I hear from a lot of different people a lot of different things. But let me just tell you, I’m focused on the job. I truly am,” Harris added after Whitaker called Biden’s age a “legitimate concern.”
“Our democracy is on the line, Bill,” she went on. “And I frankly, in my head, do not have time for parlor games when we have a president who is running for reelection. That’s it.”
When confronted by Whitaker with the fact that she and Biden were polling “neck and neck” against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who has been indicted on 91 criminal charges, Harris also demurred.
“Why are you not 30 points ahead?” Whitaker asked.
“Well, I’m not — I’m not a political pundit, so I, I, I’m not gonna speak to that,” Harris struggled to answer.
“But what I will say is this: When the American people are able to take a close look at election time on their options, I think the choice is gonna be clear. Bill, we’re gonna win. Let me just tell you that. We’re gonna win. And I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy. But we will win.”
On Friday, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) launched a long-shot bid to challenge Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination after unsuccessfully lobbying several blue state governors to primary the president.
A poll from August showed 77% of Americans — and two-thirds of Democrats — believe Biden is too old to serve another term.
On Friday, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) launched a long-shot bid to challenge Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination after unsuccessfully lobbying several blue state governors to primary the president.
Phillips, 54, has also expressed concerns about the president’s path to a general election win, given the “appalling” behavior of his son Hunter Biden.
The first son was indicted on three felony gun charges last month and may face further counts related to tax fraud and illegal foreign lobbying in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles.
While Phillips said Biden had acted “heroically” by supporting Hunter amid the charges, he also pointed out the president is considered “as corrupt as Trump” by many voters.
About half of registered voters (52%) say Hunter Biden broke the law in his foreign business dealings with Ukrainian and Chinese nationals, according to a Fox News survey from earlier this month.
The same percentage of voters say Trump’s decisions to keep classified documents after leaving office and to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election results were also illegal, the poll shows.
The Fox News poll also found a plurality of registered voters (40%) say Biden did something wrong concerning his son’s overseas business affairs.
“I’m looking at polling data, and I’m looking at all of it. The president’s numbers are just not good — and they’re not getting any better,” longtime Democratic strategist James Carville was quoted in the Atlantic last week as having told Phillips.