US President Joe Biden was reluctant to abandon his reelection campaign partly due to concerns that Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t capable of taking on Republican nominee Donald Trump, Axios reported on Monday, citing sources.
Biden announced on Sunday that he won’t seek re-election and would focus solely on fulfilling his duties as President for the remainder of his term. Shortly after announcing his withdrawal, Biden endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party nominee for the upcoming elections. Trump reacted immediately to the news, suggesting that defeating Harris “will be easier than Biden.”
According to the Axios report, which cited three Biden aides familiar with recent talks about his plans, the president’s private anxieties reflect broader questions among some Democratic leaders about Harris as their nominee this November.
The report pointed out that Harris’ time as vice president has been “occasionally rocky,” defined in part by large staff turnover and her reluctance to deal with politically risky responsibilities, among other things.
Much of Harris’ staff has left over the past three and a half years, the article said, citing disclosures which showed that of the 47 Harris staffers listed in 2021, only five still worked for her as of this spring.
Former Harris aides told Axios that the high turnover was partly because of how the VP treated her staff. The aides cited high standards that some did not want to keep up with, while others said they felt that she frequently grilled them the way she grilled Trump officials. They referred to it as Harris “prosecuting the staff.”
According to the report, the relationship between the vice president’s office and the West Wing has often been tense.
White House aides said they sometimes felt like Harris wasn’t a team player and stayed away from any task that involved risks. She has reportedly been cautious and reluctant to participate in events that weren’t tightly controlled.
At times, Harris aides suspected that Biden’s team “didn’t want to give Harris opportunities to shine” to prevent her from being seen as a viable alternative to Biden ahead of his re-election bid, Axios wrote.
Many Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have followed Biden’s lead in endorsing Harris in the hours after the announcement. Others, however, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former President Barack Obama have refrained from backing her so far.
“This next week will be critical for Harris, 59, to prove doubters wrong as she moves quickly to try to clear the field of potential challengers for the Democratic nomination,” Axios wrote.