Democrat senator says Harris ‘ready to step up’ if Biden steps aside
Senator Elizabeth Warren has made a case for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the presidential nominee should Joe Biden step aside.
A leading voice in Democratic Party’s liberal wing made a case for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the presidential nominee should Joe Biden step aside, the latest indication that top party leaders are plotting out a future with a different ticket.
Ms Harris is ready to “step up” and “unite the party to take on Donald Trump,” Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts, said Saturday on MSNBC. Warren vouched for Harris as a crusader against big banks and heralded her efforts to protect abortion rights.
“Look if you’re running against a convicted felon, then a prosecutor like Kamala is really a good person to make that case,” Warren said, referring to Harris’s previous roles as California’s attorney general and San Francisco’s district attorney.
Warren’s remarks -- along with the other comments from Democrats backing Harris -- offer a public glimpse into the extent to which party leaders are already positioning for the possibility of Biden stepping aside. It remains an open question whether Biden would push for Harris to replace him or favour a more open contest that some Democrats worry could become a nasty free-for-all.
In her Saturday remarks, Warren said for the first time that Biden “has a really big decision to make” about his candidacy, a phrase that has become something of a calling card for Democrats looking to gently nudge Biden out of the race. Biden, 81 years old, has said he would remain the party’s nominee. He has faced calls to step down since his disastrous debate performance last month and his subsequent uneven attempts to show that he’s still a vigorous campaigner.
Biden’s main opponent in the race, Republican former President Donald Trump, was campaigning in Michigan Saturday -- rallying voters in a must-win state for Biden. Meanwhile, the president was holed up in Rehoboth Beach, Del., recovering from a Covid-19 infection. Biden’s doctor said Saturday that the president’s “symptoms continue to improve steadily.” Also on Saturday, Rep. Mark Takano (D., Calif.) called on Biden to exit from the race and backed Harris as his replacement, adding his voice to the roughly three dozen members of Congress asking him to step aside.
“President Biden’s greatest accomplishment remains saving democracy in 2020,” Takano said on X. “He can and must do so again in 2024 -- by passing the torch to Vice President Harris.” Takano had previously told Democrats in a private call that he thought Biden should step down, according to multiple people.
On Friday, when Rep. Betty McCollum (D., Minn.) called on Biden to step aside, she also threw her support to Harris. “I am calling upon President Biden to release his delegates and empower Vice President Harris to step forward to become the Democratic nominee for president,” she said.
If there is a contested convention in August, the nominee will likely be selected by the 4,000 delegates able to vote on the first ballot. Delegates tend to be party activists who are ideologically further to the left than the party writ large.
Other prominent liberals, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) have been stalwart in their support for Biden remaining on the ticket.
Warren mounted a presidential bid in 2020 where she attracted massive crowds and raised millions of dollars from small donors even as her campaign was winding down.
Warren’s remarks came hours before Harris was set to fly to Massachusetts for a fundraiser in Provincetown. Among the many co-hosts for the event are Biden allies Bryan Rafanelli, who planned Naomi Biden’s White House wedding along with his husband Mark Walsh, a former state department official in the Obama administration.
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