Kamala Harris fiercely defends Biden while her allies are ready to support her if he decides to step down

While certain Democrats have proposed names such as Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom, Harris supporters say she should not be overlooked should Biden take a step back.

 

WASHINGTON — In the week since President Joe Biden’s dismal debate performance , Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged, publicly and privately, as one of his fiercest defenders — and as the person with the most intense support to succeed him on the ticket if he were to step down.

NBC News spoke with seven sources who have stated that, while Harris is focusing on gaining confidence for Biden and her devoted allies have made it clear that should the time come for her to take on the role of leader she will have wide support from across the political spectrum. These allies, which include many Black Democrats, have vocally declared that any attempt to take her away this year will be met with a strong and vocal rebuke.

“I believe she’s done extremely well,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who added that, while he’s continuing to back Biden as the candidate of the party, Harris should not be overlooked in the event that Biden quit. “She’s always been great. I think she’s simply better. And I believe she’s superior to anyone else floating around.”

Sharpton who is civil rights activist and MSNBC host, stated that there’s “no doubt” that the motive behind anyone who tries to discredit Harris as one of the few women, Black person and person who is of South Asian descent to serve as vice president is “racist and sexist.”

“If anyone attempted it and tried it, they should know that I’m standing on the tracks to stop the train from proceeding,” Sharpton said of any attempt to make anyone different from Harris to be the highest on the line. “When the people were voting for Biden as the nominee they were voting on Biden and Harris. How do you take this ticket and then throw it out? There’s no reason to believe that you can. The reasoning is that ‘we are able to do this because she’s a woman, and also because she’s Black. It’s not true. Blacks as well as women should not accept that logic.”

Just minutes after this debate ended, Harris had already appeared on the air, delivering a powerful argument in support of Biden. Three sources with knowledge of the interviews claimed that Harris did not receive any official talk points from Biden’s campaign, and had a short amount of time to plan her speech.

Her “snap”snap reaction has given Democrats an outline for how to defend Biden which has been repeated repeatedly since she spoke the following phrases in CNN: “I’m not going to sit the night talking over the past 90 minutes while I’ve been watching for the past three and a half years of your performance.”

Democrats have been following her example following her sharply slam on the former president Donald Trump for pushing “lies” and causing “damage across the nation” and also made it clear she was determined to beat Trump during the November election.

The effect of Harris the ability she has to swiftly respond to questions about Biden’s ability and energy in a bidfor the second term has helped to squelch some of the criticisms that have been lingering over her for a long time and raised questions about her performance in the administration as well as her capacity to be a president. Biden’s Biden campaign has repurposed her interviews as a way to support the president and certain Democrats have pointed out her performances as proof that she is not dismissed as a potential candidate even if Biden was to exit the race.

In the meantime, Harris, herself, has received phone calls from and calls to numerous party leaders civil rights activists, party leaders and donors to provide them with reassurance on the path to take in the coming months with Biden as the candidate and to aid in unifying the party according four individuals who talked directly to Harris during the last week. On these conversations, Harris repeatedly stated that she will remain committed to Biden and has also said that Biden has been through a lot over the years, such as when his fate to the 2020 presidential primary was unclear.

Someone who is familiar with Harris’s thinking has said that the message is: “We are ready for this battle. We must remain positive. Head down. Let’s get it done since we have plenty of work to finish.”

The previous Wednesday Biden as well as Harris were part of an All-staff conference call with their campaign staff and also delivered similar messages.

“We are not going to back down,” Harris said. “We will follow in the footsteps of our president. We will fight and we’ll win. … Joe Biden has dedicated his entire life to fighting for the people of America. This moment I’m sure everyone is prepared to fight for Joe Biden.”

Leah D. Daughtry, a Democratic political strategist who has close connections to Harris the office, echoed the sentiment, saying Democrats should concentrate on defeating Trump.

“President Biden had a bad night,” Daughtry said. “I find it difficult to ignore the extent of his work in the three and a half years and what he actually done during his presidency is actually extremely unforgiving and stunning according to me.”

Within Harris in her office She and her top staff have consistently stated that staffers must remain focused on defending Biden as the leader of the list and not pursuing discussions of his replacement, according to two sources with anonymity who are able to talk freely about the talks.

Donna Brazile, a veteran Democratic political strategist who was the ex-chair of the Democratic National Committee she said the idea about taking over Biden in the race would be “an assault on democracy” and “utter absurd.”

“How do we claim that we’re the party that will protect and build democracy, and then change the will of the American people?” Brazile said. “That’s the reason why none of us delegated to the party is engaged in this debate.”

Two sources further claimed that Harris wasn’t originally part at the White House’s July Fourth celebration along with Biden however, it was added to reinforce Biden’s “unity” message, as external pressure on Biden to leave the White House increases.

However, despite Harris offering as a united front, a lot of people (including top Democratic donors as well as Democratic lawmakers have asked whether Harris could be the Democratic candidate for president should Biden were to resign. Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan have all been suggested as better options to replace Biden.

Some congress Democrats have said that Harris is at the top of the ticket could be even more terrifying as compared to running against a lesser Biden since polls over the past few years have found her to be less popular than Biden is.

An Democratic congressional aide told me that a lot of Democrats who are in tight races are concerned concerning potential “chaos” that could ensue in the event that Harris were to be the presidential candidate. There are “definitely lots of those who have been pushed to Biden due to their concerns about other candidates performing less well, beginning with Biden,” the aide said.

A Democratic strategist who is working on House races told me that the candidate of the party has been outperforming Biden for months, and generally prefer to run with him, rather than Harris on top of the ticket. However, after the debate there was a changes.

“I’ve never heard so many people say”Fthe hell with that, Kamala would be better than Kamala,'” the strategist added.

The concerns regarding Harris her ability to run as the frontrunner of the party have been met with intense anger by a variety of individuals within the party, including a lot of Black Democrats.

Harris supporters claim that she has successfully contested statewide offices in both her capacity as the Attorney General of California and also as senator representing the state. They also point out that she made a name for herself over thethe past two years as HTML1as the president’s most vocal advocate on abortion rights, which is a important issue for voters, as well as on issues like economics, for which she has been adamant to elect Black, Latino and other voters of ethnicity.

Brazile who was adamant that the party was not intending to replace Biden she said that if Biden decides to quit she, along with other Black women from the party would not permit Harris to be swept aside.

“If someone wants to go beyond or glance past his vice-president of the United States and find someone else, even if it was an actual scenario or discussion the person would have to go through one members of our society,” Brazile said. “Black women are the core of this group. Our contributions have served as the foundation. We will continue to be a part of our fellow members of the Democratic Party. We’re not playing an ethnic or gender card. It’s a leadership card. The Vice President Harris is part of the leadership of the Democratic Party.”

In the meantime, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a Biden-Harris campaign co-chair who played a key role in aiding in helping Biden get the nomination signing his endorsement during his South Carolina primary in 2020, told MSNBC that he’d “support” Harris if Biden “were to leave.”

“This event should not be doing anything to undermine Mrs. Harris,” Clyburn said. “We must do all we can to support her no matter if she’s in second place or high on the ladder.”

There’s also the matter of funds and who is able to access it. Biden campaign’s account. It was reportedly carrying $91.2 million on May 31. In a Sunday interview, during a tense phone call between campaign aides as well as the donors, Julie Chavez Rodriguez who is who is the Biden director of the campaign, claimed that in the event Biden decides to quit, Harris would then control the majority of the funds in the account of the campaign. In addition, Harris supporters have begun to think about what her campaign could appear as should Biden decide to quit running.

The CNN poll released on Tuesday also revealed that Harris will do better in comparison to Biden when it comes to a possible game against Trump. According to the survey 47 percent from registered voters favor Trump as well as 45% favor Harris however, the poll’s result can be considered to be within the range of error. In the past, Harris’ approval ratings are often lower than Biden’s, which has been low as well.

Yet, a lot of people who are around Harris claim that she is still intent on convincing elected officials and other stakeholders that the issue hasn’t significantly impacted the raceand on demonstrating her belief that President Trump whom she collaborates with on a daily basis is in control of his responsibilities as well as on mobilizing the support of the Biden-Harris group which need to be strengthened as well as the major party donors and voters and on pursuing the argument against the election of Trump.

The message she delivered, they claimed is similar to the one Harris stated the next day following the debate at an Los Angeles campaign event.

“Four things are true prior to the debate, and even after the debate the stakes are more than they’ve ever been” Harris said to applause. “This person, Donald Trump, is an affront to our democratic system. We have all the good issues to choose from in the context of what we fight for. You know the fourth thing that’s in the moment before and also after the debate? Trump remains a lying liar.”

Sahil Kapur

,

Monica Alba

and

Bridget Bowman

contributed

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