(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A new book has revealed that top Biden officials—before Democrats switched their nominee weeks before the election—echoed a widespread sentiment among Americans: they did not like Vice President Kamala Harris.
The top aides reportedly warned donors, even “aggressively,” that pushing Joe Biden from the 2020 presidential ticket would be a “mistake,” as most Americans did not “want” Harris.
National journalists Jonathan Allen of NBC News and Amie Parnes of The Hill detailed these sentiments in their new book, Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.
According to the authors, the book provides a glimpse into the summer leading up to the election, when top Democrats and donors wanted Biden to exit the race following his disastrous performance in the debate with now-President Donald Trump.
“One donor on the receiving end of an electronic message summed up the sentiments of Biden’s top aides: ‘They were aggressively saying that we would wind up with the vice president and that would be a mistake,’” Allen and Parnes wrote, according to excerpts obtained by The Guardian.
The authors even used italics to highlight the drama involving Biden’s exit and the subsequent coronation of Harris as the presumptive nominee. The quotes read as follows:
“It all sounded like a serial killer’s conspiracy theory. Donors want to scrap Biden so they can get his wannabe replacements – the governors, with power over state decisions – to beg them for cash, Biden aides argued.
“This isn’t fucking Wall Street financiers versus Ivy League presidents. Our guy isn’t scared of your money. We have grassroots donors. We have the support of the voters. We have the nomination in hand. All you’re doing is fucking yourself and the president. We will remember this. Capisce?
“The last threat, the ace in the hole, was Kamala Harris. Even if Biden did drop out and you got your dreamed-up open convention, you would only succeed in nominating the vice president. Is that what you want? You want her? Look at her polling. No one wants her. Forget it. It’s never gonna happen.”
Although Biden eventually dropped out and quickly endorsed his unpopular vice president as his heir, this move ran counter to donors’ wishes to elevate politicians like Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer or even Michelle Obama. Ultimately, Harris went on to lose the election to Trump.
