Harris acknowledges Biden had a ‘slow start’ in debate and tries to calm Democratic fears
WASHINGTON — Deputy Director Kamala Harris the president acknowledged that Joe Biden had a “slow start” in his debate against Donald Trump on Thursday night, but insisted he finished “strong” in a performance that sparked a new round of concerns within their own party about Biden’s fitness to be their standard-bearer.
“It was a slow start. That is clear to everyone. I’m not going to debate that,” Harris said in an interview on CNN after the debate. “I’m talking about the choice for November. I am talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lives.”
Harris gave interviews on CNN and MSNBC amid growing Democratic panic over Biden’s performance, raising long-standing questions about whether the 81-year-old president should step aside.
While she acknowledged that of Biden unequal performanceHarris highlighted the substance of Trump’s comments during the 90-minute debate, including his refusal to condemn the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and his unwillingness to definitively accept the outcome of the November election.
She also said that the contrast between Biden and Trump should ultimately lie in Biden’s performance during his time in office, not in one debate.
“I understand you’re going to have about an hour and a half of debate tonight. I’m talking about three and a half years of accomplishment in work that has been historic,” Harris said in a tense exchange with CNN host Anderson Cooper.
Harris continued: “The Joe Biden that I work with every day is someone who, as I said, has performed in a way that is focused on bringing people, Republicans and Democrats, to the White House to compromise in a way that is extraordinary these days.”
She concluded her MSNBC interview by saying that “only one of the two people on that debate stage, only one of them has the endorsement of his vice president. And let’s not forget that.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence has done so declined to endorse Trump this year. Trump pressured Pence to agree to his plan to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.