The Tell-All Memoir
Kamala Harris is promoting her book, 107 Days, in which she recounts the period before and after President Joe Biden‘s exit from the race, making clear she will not hold back on her White House experiences.
In a recently released excerpt to The Atlantic, Kamala Harris criticizes her former boss and friend, President Joe Biden, reflecting on their time together leading up to his resignation.
While many expected Harris to quietly discuss her term and failed campaign, few foresaw her quick, public disclosure of White House chaos before Biden’s resignation.
On Joe Biden’s Recklessness And His Staff
Kamala Harris writes that, in hindsight, she believes Joe Biden was reckless and let his ego keep him in the race too long.
She wrote: “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.”
Kamala Harris explains that, after learning Joe Biden had made his decision — one she understood was deeply personal — she did not try to persuade him to step down.
She emphasizes her loyalty to Joe Biden for giving her the opportunity but acknowledges the growing panic among White House staff in the days leading up to his exit.
Kamala Harris addresses speculation about whether Biden’s staff, including herself, manipulated his decisions.
She remained silent as polls and pressure mounted in the weeks prior to Joe Biden stepping aside, expecting he would eventually make the decision to quit.
She implies that some of Biden’s staff stayed silent during attacks and may have fueled negative narratives about her.
She suggests some may have leaked damaging information to the media to undermine her chances for future office. Harris confessed: “When I was attacked… on everything from my laugh, to my tone of voice, to whom I’d dated in my 20s, or claimed I was a ‘DEI hire,’ the White House rarely pushed back with my actual résumé.”
She complained: “They had a huge comms team; they had Karine Jean-Pierre briefing in the pressroom every day. But getting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible.Worse, I often learned that the president’s staff was adding fuel to negative narratives that sprang up around me.”
Kamala Harris explains that she believed some of Joe Biden’s staff members purposely tried to hurt her. To protect Biden, the plan was to dim her spotlight so he could shine.
She wrote: “Their 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.”
The excerpt went on to say: “It would serve as a testament to his judgment in choosing me and reassurance that if something happened, the country was in good hands. My success was important for him.”
A Defense Of His Competence
Despite strong criticism of President Biden, Harris closes by clarifying her main argument: he remained competent and in control, countering prevailing rumors.
She counters rumors that Biden was incapacitated as president. She acknowledges Biden’s age and occasional slip-ups, both mental and physical.
During his presidency, Biden had several public gaffes, including falling, appearing disoriented, or forgetting names.
However, Kamala Harris attested that despite his age, Joe Biden was remarkably sharp and well aware, making some of the most significant and consequential decisions in history and performing a formidable job in the White House.
During his term, Biden signed major laws like the American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS Act.
She used the opportunity to take a jab at President Donald Trump, who is putting makeup on his bruised hand, often stumbles with his words, forgets names, or slips on the steps of Air Force One.
Kamala Harris insisted that if it were true that Joe Biden was incapacitated, she was fully ready to step in and replace him.
She wrote: “Many people want to spin up a narrative of some big conspiracy at the White House to hide Joe Biden’s infirmity. Here is the truth as I lived it. Joe Biden was a smart guy with long experience and deep conviction, able to discharge the duties of the president. On his worst day, he was more deeply knowledgeable, more capable of exercising judgment, and far more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best.”
She went to reveal: “But at 81, Joe got tired. That’s when his age showed 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. 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.”
Reactions And A Political Future
Harris’s revelations sparked intense reactions. Some Democrats think she compromised her future; some Republicans welcome the discord.
A former Joe Biden staff member told The New York Post, “No one wants a leader who can’t speak truth to power, but I do not think she is going to run. Is she just going to be like ‘sure’ [to Russian President Vladimir] Putin and then write in a book she should have said ‘don’t bomb Poland’?”
A second Biden White House alum echoed the surprise, telling The Post they expected the book to “be a nothingburger” but found Harris’s candor compelling enough that “it actually made me want to buy it.” They added that releasing the book before Joe Biden’s memoir was a smart move.
They predicted, “I’m sure the [book] tour will sell out, and it will raise her profile, but it’s not going to give her any political footing.”
Kamala Harris Faces The Music For Her Backstabbing
With this in mind, Harris might enjoy a period of positive attention during her book tour; however, widespread doubt remains about her future political prospects, as many expect Joe Biden’s memoir to discuss her perceived shortcomings.
According to these predictions, he will likely write about her perceived coldness towards him and his dissatisfaction with the results of several tasks he requested, including the one at the border.
During her vice presidency, Kamala Harris also faced criticisms for public speaking and communication, and experienced low approval ratings.
Dr. Jill Biden, livid and hurt by the backstabbing, is also likely to reflect on her White House experiences, including interactions with Harris and her views on Kamala’s support for President Biden.
She believes her husband gave Harris chances and forgave her, including after a difficult debate moment where she appeared to insinuate that he had some blind spots when it came to issue of race in America.
