Biden touts ‘close’ relationship with Harris, but ‘not surprised’ by her election loss

Former President Joe Biden, in a wide-ranging interview on ABC’s “The View” on Thursday, stated he was not stunned by Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss within the 2024 presidential election, however not due to her {qualifications} as a candidate — as a substitute, pointing to sexism and racism he stated had been leveled towards her.

“I wasn’t stunned, not as a result of I did not assume the vp was probably the most certified individual to be president … I wasn’t stunned as a result of they went the route of — the sexist route, the entire route,” Biden stated.

He continued: “I’ve by no means seen fairly as profitable and constant marketing campaign, undercutting the notion {that a} girl could not lead the nation — and a lady of blended race.”

However Biden, individually, stated he nonetheless thinks he would have overwhelmed Trump if he had stayed within the race.

“Yeah, he nonetheless obtained seven million fewer votes,” Biden stated of Trump, noting by how a lot he beat Trump within the 2020 election well-liked vote.

His feedback come after a number of months out of the highlight for the previous president as he and Democrats look to type out his position post-presidency. Final month, Biden emerged from non-public life to deliver a speech on Trump’s potential influence on Social Safety and made an look at Harvard College.

Questions persist on the party’s priorities and who could also be one of the best to message and talk on the Democrats’ behalf — questions that reach to each Biden and Harris.

Biden, for his half, informed “The View” that he is within the midst of self-reflection — and, to that finish, writing a guide.

“Issues are shifting alongside and we’re getting squared away attempting to determine what probably the most vital and consequential position I can play, according to what I’ve carried out up to now,” he stated.

The previous president additionally addressed his relationship along with his former running-made-turned-candidate, saying that he and Harris had spoken as just lately as Wednesday. But, he shortly stopped himself from addressing specifics of their “frequent” conversations, together with side-stepping any chatter about Harris’ potential gubernatorial or potential presidential ambitions.

Sources have informed ABC Information beforehand that Harris could also be mulling a run for governor of California, her dwelling state; others have speculated she may mount a run for president in 2028 — a controversial notion inside the Democratic Occasion.

A lot of Harris’ longtime nationwide supporters told ABC News in March that they’re lukewarm on her probably operating for president in 2028; others have referred to as for a full break from the Biden-Harris administration and for the get together to contemplate new standard bearers.

However on Harris’ broader political future, Biden stated he was hopeful that she stayed concerned in some vital approach, however stopped wanting sharing which route he hopes she takes.

“She’s obtained a tough choice to make about what she’s going to do. I hope she stays absolutely engaged. I feel she’s first-rate, however now we have plenty of actually good candidates as effectively. So, I am optimistic. I am not pessimistic,” Biden stated.

Biden’s remarks do not appear to have mollified progressives who felt he hamstrung Democrats’ possibilities in 2024. Progressive Change Marketing campaign Committee co-founder Adam Inexperienced stated in a press release after the interview that the previous president is in “denial” over each his and Harris’ viability as robust candidates on the 2024 ticket, suggesting that anti-establishment Democrats would fare higher to steer the get together.

“Joe Biden is in denial about the truth that neither he nor Kamala Harris ought to have been the 2024 Democratic nominee if we wished to defeat Donald Trump. On this second, voters demand genuine anti-establishment figures who will shake up a damaged political system and financial establishment rigged for billionaires towards working individuals, and that is not Biden or Harris.”

Requested on “The View” to reply to claims that he ought to have dropped out of the race and endorse Harris sooner, Biden stated that Harris nonetheless had an extended interval to marketing campaign and that they labored collectively “in each choice I made.”

Biden additionally denied reporting that claimed he had suggested Harris to counsel that there was no daylight between the 2 of them — saying that they had been companions and labored collectively.

“The View” co-anchor Sunny Hostin introduced up Harris’ comments on “The View” in October, towards the tip of her presidential marketing campaign, when requested if she would have carried out “one thing in a different way” from what Biden had carried out during the last 4 years. She responded, “there may be not a factor that involves thoughts,” a second broadly seen as one which damage her amongst voters who felt she wanted to make a cleaner break from the Biden White Home.

“I didn’t advise her to say that,” Biden stated, including that he thought Harris meant she wouldn’t change any of the successes that the Biden-Harris White Home had achieved.

“She was a part of each success we had. We might argue like hell, by the best way,” Biden added, stressing that the disagreements had been all indicators of a constructive working relationship.

Regardless that he indicated no stress between himself and Harris, Biden didn’t reply instantly when requested about stress between him and different longtime supporters, together with former President Barack Obama, whose administration he served in as vp.

Requested about what his relationship with Obama is like now, and the way he addresses considerations Obama and others reportedly raised over his means to serve a second time period as president, Biden pivoted to why he obtained out of the race — and didn’t point out Obama.

“The one motive I obtained out of the race was as a result of I did not need to have a divided Democratic Occasion … I believed it was higher to place the nation forward of my curiosity, my private curiosity,” Biden stated.

Biden did say, in his response, that considerations over his age — 81 through the marketing campaign — had been legitimate, however pointed to what he nonetheless achieved on the finish of his presidency as proof towards claims he had cognitively declined.

ABC Information’ Alexandra Hutzler and Zohreen Shah contributed to this report.