President Biden partly delayed withdrawing from his 2024 Presidential race due to doubts about the ability of Vice President Kamala Harris to effectively challenge former president Donald Trump in the November election, according to a bombshell new report.
According to Axios, which cited three Biden aides familiar with the discussions, the 81-year-old president and his senior advisers were concerned about whether Harris could handle the challenge of facing Trump in the run-up to his historic announcement. Despite these concerns, Biden ultimately decided to endorse Harris, 59, when he announced on Sunday that he was finally stepping down — weeks after a disastrous debate with Trump had thrown his campaign into turmoil.
Biden Was Apprehensive About Harris
According to sources, Biden and Harris had multiple phone conversations in the hours leading up to the dramatic announcement. Harris, for her part, spent over 10 hours making urgent calls to more than 100 Democratic party leaders, politicians, and donors to garner support, according to one source who spoke to CNN.
Among those she reached out to were former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, the source revealed.
While Bill and Hillary Clinton quickly endorsed Harris, Obama did not immediately offer his support. Instead, he said that Democrats would choose an unnamed “outstanding nominee.”
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama said. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
Moments after Biden endorsed Harris, the Vice President posted on X expressing her “honor” at receiving his support and stating her “intention to earn and win this nomination.”
The Democratic National Committee is expected to hold a virtual vote for the presidential nomination in early August to meet Ohio’s ballot-access deadline of August 7.
Harris Still on Sticky Ground
However, Harris has struggled to make a significant impact during her time in the White House. Her role, like that of many vice presidents, has been low-profile, and she faced low approval ratings early in her term.
For example, in 2021, a poll by USA Today and Suffolk University found she had only 28 percent support, ranking her lower than previous vice presidents like Dick Cheney.
But as Biden prepared to exit the 2024 race, Harris’s popularity began to rise. A poll last week by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 74 percent of Democrats viewed her performance as “favorable.”
Moreover, Harris raised $49.6 million for her presidential campaign in less than a day after Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her as the Democratic nominee, a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign said on Monday.
The vice president also has the backing of several members of Congress, including Representative Jim Clyburn, who was a strong supporter of Biden. “I’m going to be for Harris if Biden ain’t there,” he told USA Today earlier this month.
Hailing from Oakland, California, Harris previously served as the state’s attorney general and as a U.S. senator.
