Former Vice President Kamala Harris broke her silence on the chaos following former President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 race just three and a half months before Election Day.
Harris previewed her upcoming book “107 Days” with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Monday night, describing Biden’s move as “recklessness” and admitting she has regrets about not pushing him harder to reconsider.
“So when I write this, it’s because I realize that I have and had a certain responsibility that I should have followed through on,” Harris told Maddow. “So when I talk about the recklessness, as much as anything, I’m talking about myself. There was so much at stake, and at the time I worried it would come off as being completely self-serving.”
The comments marked the first time Harris has publicly admitted doubts about how she handled the political earthquake.
Harris says the decision left her with just over 100 days to strategize and face off against President Donald Trump.
She says the scenario was “unprecedented.”
Her last-minute entry left Democrats scrambling while Trump had been building his war chest for months and hammering down his opponent on the campaign trail.
She recalled how “people who seemingly had nothing in common came together by the thousands with an A-level of optimism and, dare I say, joy about the possibilities for America.”
Critics among her own political party questioned whether she could unite Democrats and win over independents with so little time left.
