Senior Democrats’ successful efforts to oust Joe Biden from the presidential race were “unfortunate, unpleasant and public” and did the president a “disservice,” Biden’s former White House chief of staff said — even as the new candidate, Kamala Harris, continued to fundraise heavily, campaign vigorously and show signs that she will catch Donald Trump in the polls.
Related: Kamala Harris will announce vice presidential pick in the ‘next six, seven days,’ says Democrat
“I was disappointed because people in the party asked [Biden] to get out of the race and I thought they got out of control,” said Ron Klain.
“I thought it was unfortunate and unpleasant and public, and it shouldn’t have been… I thought they were doing him a disservice, but I think he handled it incredibly kindly and came up with a plan that will work for us in 2024.”
Podcast host Kara Swisher launched it conversation with Klain on Monday, just over a week after Biden made history by saying he would relinquish power.
Now 81, Biden has long been subject to doubts about his fitness for office, but calls for him to resign accelerated after the first presidential debate in late June, during which Biden appeared frail and confused and failed to verify his opinions. Trump’s lies.
Klain left the White House last year but helped Biden prepare for the debate.
He said: “I thought the debate was an opportunity for the president to ask some of these questions [about his age and fitness] rest, but obviously [it] It didn’t go well that night and that’s it. And then we made a bet and the bet didn’t work.
“I thought it was a reasonable chance to take advantage of. I thought the president, as he demonstrated in the days following the debate, was fully capable of defending his position firmly, fully capable of answering impromptu questions, as he did in his press conference. [during a Nato summit in Washington]. I thought we would see that on debate night and we just didn’t, of course.”
Klain said Biden was “very kind” and “took responsibility in our conversations and said he had a bad night and told me not to feel bad about it. I think… he was just off.
Few Democrats agreed. Amid sympathy for Trump after an assassination attempt, and with polls showing Biden in trouble in key states, calls have emerged for the president to step aside, supported by big names in the party, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama, whom Biden served as vice president. President.
Eventually, Klain said, Biden “made the decision that he couldn’t keep the party unified,” but he also decided to “point the direction in which to go and he pointed very clearly to Vice President Harris.
“And so I think it was a wise decision and I think he executed it extremely well. You see the vice president emerging in a very short time as the consensus candidate of our party, with strong support… I think that’s great.
“…So I don’t really like how we got here, but I think we’re in a good place. We will move on. We’re going to win this year.”
