Kamala Harris Has 'No Regrets' Over Gaslighting the American People About Biden's Decreptitude
The vice president expressed no regrets about pretending
Biden was fit to serve for another four years.
Vice President Kamala Harris sat down this week to field softball questions from a friendly liberal network after spending several weeks avoiding the fourth estate.
In her interview Thursday with CNN's Dana Bash, Harris was afforded an opportunity to account for her mischaracterization of President Joe Biden's competency when it still benefited her to do so.
Rather than admit fault, Harris doubled down and emphasized that she has no regrets.
"You were a very staunch defender of President Biden's capacity to serve another four years right after the debate," said Bash. "You insisted that President Biden is 'extraordinarily strong.'"
After Biden's disastrous debate with President Donald Trump on June 27, Harris told CNN host Anderson Cooper, "Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish. And what became very clear through the course of the night is that Joe Biden is fighting on behalf of the American people. On substance, on policy, on performance, Joe Biden is extraordinarily strong."
When Cooper gently pushed back, highlighting anxiety among congressional Democrats over Biden's performance, Harris responded, "People can debate on style points, but ultimately this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance. And the contrast is clear."
Bash asked Harris on Thursday, "Given where we are now, do you have any regrets about what you told the American people?"
"No. Not at all," said Harris. "I have served with President Biden for almost four years now, and I'll tell you: It's one of the greatest honors of my career. Truly."
'Joe Biden is very much alive.'
"He is so smart and loyal to the American people," continued Harris. "I have spent hours upon hours with him, be it in the Oval Office or the Situation Room. He has the intelligence, the commitment, and the judgment, and disposition that I think the American people rightly deserve in their president."
CNN panelists later spun Harris' long-standing mischaracterization of Biden's abilities as the result of "loyalty" and "grace."
The Trump campaign, on the other hand, said of Harris' admitted lack of remorse: "She lied to the American people as she perpetuated a massive, wide-reaching fraud — until it was no longer tenable."
Harris' post-debate spin earlier this summer was hardly the first time she tried to firm up public confidence in Biden's abilities.
He gave critics and allies alike cause to worry in recent years with his evident difficulty completing sentences; heavy reliance on cue cards; struggles to stay upright; repetition of the same debunked anecdote nearly word for word, in short succession; confusion of the living for the dead, his sister for his wife, and the names of disparate nations; apparent need to spend roughly 40% of his presidency out of office; identification as a proud black woman; and his apparent need for former President Barack Obama as an escort.
When asked in September 2023 whether Biden was too old to run again, Harris told reporters, "Joe Biden is going to be just fine," reported Reuters.
"Joe Biden is going to be fine. Let me tell you something: I work with Joe Biden every day," added Harris.
Harris was asked in an October 2023 "60 Minutes" interview what would happen in the event that something should "befall President Biden, and he is not able to run." Harris answered, "Joe Biden is very much alive and running for election."
In February, Harris condemned special counsel Robert Hur's report about Biden's handling of sensitive classified information, which suggested that the Democratic president had a "poor memory" and was possibly too senile to charge. She called the report "gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate."
Harris told reporters that contrary to Hur's characterization, Biden was capable — "in front of and on top of it all."
"The way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated," added Harris.
