Six months have passed since Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump in the November election for president, and many Americans are still mourning. The devastating blow divided the country even more, and now, former President Joe Biden is finally addressing his theories about why the Democratic party failed.
Since leaving the White House, Biden has kept a relatively low profile. That is until recently, with him sitting down for several major interviews and making public appearances over the last few weeks. During an interview on “The View” Thursday (May 8), Biden spoke about last year’s campaign season, even making a surprising admission.
According to the former president, Harris’ defeat didn’t come as a shock. “Not because I didn’t think the vice president was qualified to be president,” he clarified. Biden went on to defend Harris saying she was more than qualified to run the country. But there was two simple yet deeply complex things he believes stopped her from pulling out the final victory.
It’s no secret that Harris is Black woman. But despite making history as the first woman district attorney in San Francisco and the first woman to serve as vice president, Biden said it was her gender and race that many folks couldn’t see past. Plus, it didn’t help that the Republican party basically used her identity against her, just like they did during former President Barack Obama’s campaigns.
“I was surprised because they [MAGA] went the sexist route, the whole route. ‘This is a woman,’ she’s this, she’s that, really, I’ve never seen a successful and consistent [of a] campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn’t lead the country — and a woman of mixed race,” Biden told “The View” hosts. Let’s all remember the right’s continuous attacks on Harris, previously calling her a “jezebel” and suggesting she slept her way to the top of the political ladder.
The same thing happened in 2016 with the battle between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Trump. Even “The View” host Sara Haines mentioned the 2016 voting frenzy saying Harris’ loss “was like 2016 all over again.” In the cases of Obama, Clinton, and Harris, each candidate presented a “radical” progressive change in the political system. But while Obama, a Black man, was able to win two terms, the ladies didn’t have the same success.
Of course, if you were paying any attention to last year’s election, Biden’s recent remarks aren’t surprising. It was very clear from the beginning of Harris’ 100-day campaign that voters were hesitant to elect the first female president. But you know who called it? Black women.
On X, @judysquirrels tweeted back in November that Harris is “not radical, she just happens to be a Black woman.” Another Black woman, @tify330, wrote “People hate when Biden is honest, everything he said is true: Sexism, Racism, COVID, Pessimism, Negative view of Gov’t all played a role.”
It remains unclear if this country will ever be ready for a Black women to lead, or even a woman in general. But despite this, Biden continues to praise his former second in command. “We had a very successful effort to change the direction of the country and we did,” he said. “She was every single part of that.”