Yet another excerpt from a forthcoming book on the 2020 election and the Biden Administration’s first year in power contains an unflattering anecdote about how President Joe Biden arrived at choosing then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate and eventual vice president. Biden’s wife, according to the excerpt, was not thrilled that Harris was picked for the ticket because Harris had landed blistering attacks against Biden during her short-lived campaign to be the Democratic nominee for president in the 2020 primary. The excerpt doesn’t reveal that the soon-to-be-FLOTUS had a preference for a different running mate, though.
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It’s worth noting that the excerpt of the book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future,” was originally reported over the weekend by Fox News, which has long targeted Vice President Harris and other Black women political figures including former First Lady Michelle Obama and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, with racist and derogatory commentary.
“’There are millions of people in the United States,’ she began. ‘Why,’ she asked, ‘do we have to choose the one who attacked Joe,’” the authors wrote of a conversation Jill Biden had after she learned Harris became a leading candidate to serve as Biden’s running mate.
Several from Biden’s inner circle, however, supported Harris on the ticket. Ron Klain, now the White House chief of staff, had been tasked with vetting vice presidential candidates and, according to the book, told Biden early on that Harris was most qualified for the job as she had sought the presidency herself.
“Yes, Harris had attacked Biden more harshly than any other major candidate in the Democratic primaries. Yes, the Biden family had seen it as a smear and a betrayal. In Klain’s assessment, that would work to Biden’s advantage,” the book states. “Choosing Harris will show people that you are magnanimous and forgiving, Klain told Biden. It will show the country just what a unifying leader you can be.”
Politico previously published another excerpt from the book, written by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns and due for release next month, that portrayed a tense relationship between Biden’s staff and Harris’. The Root reached out to the White House on Monday morning for comment but hasn’t heard back yet.
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