Kamala Harris grilled by BBC journalist on why she didn’t raise concerns about Biden’s capacity
Former Vice President Kamala Harris was repeatedly pressed on whether she felt she couldn’t raise concerns about former President Joe Biden‘s re-election campaign and if she was “deliberately” kept in the dark about the former president’s health.
Harris insisted in an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that aired Sunday that she had concerns about Biden running for president, but not about his ability to serve as president. She said that she has reflected on whether or not she should have tried to talk to him about it, but was concerned that it would appear self-serving.
“But the context here, I think, at this historical moment you talk about, is so important because there had been months of speculation around the world, here in the U.K. too. Even in April, long before President Biden pulled out, we asked Nancy Pelosi what was going wrong. This was a huge subject of discussion, and you write that President Biden didn’t raise his frailty with you and you write that you didn’t really raise it with him, that’s extraordinary to read in your account,” Kuenssberg told Harris.
Harris pushed back and said, “Let’s be more precise: there is a very serious difference between capacity to be president of the United States and the capacity to run for president of the United States.”
“It is on that latter piece that I talk about in the book, about my concern about his ability, with the level of endurance, energy that it requires, especially running against now the current president,” she added. “But let’s be clear, my question was never about his capacity to be president.”
Kuenssberg questioned whether it was a strange message to send to the public.
“Isn’t it a strange message to the public to say, you know what you need to be tougher and more able to run a political campaign than actually to be the person behind the desk in the Oval Office, to be the person making decisions in the Situation Room. So did you just not think it was that bad or did you feel you just couldn’t raise it?” the BBC journalist asked.
The former vice president reiterated that she was concerned about what the campaign would demand of any candidate, “regardless of age.”
KAMALA HARRIS’ DECISION NOT TO RUN IN 2026 OPENS DOOR TO POSSIBLE SECOND PRESIDENTIAL RUN IN 2028
Harris also suggested she might run for office again during the BBC interview, telling Kuenssberg, “I am not done.”
“I am not done,” she told the United Kingdom outlet. “I have lived my entire career as a life of service, and it’s in my bones.”
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Harris also labeled President Donald Trump a “tyrant,” accusing business leaders and institutions of cozying up to the president and bowing to his demands.
