It’s the political collision no one in the Democratic Party wants, but one that may now be inevitable. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appear to be barreling toward a potential showdown, with tensions bubbling just beneath the surface as books begin to drop and Harris reportedly readies her own account.
One journalist says that if Harris even hints at President Biden’s mental decline, Biden allies are ready to strike, and strike hard.
Veteran journalist Mark Halperin dropped that unreported bombshell on Friday’s The Morning Meeting, revealing that Biden’s inner circle has been quietly stockpiling damaging stories about Harris, and will unleash them if they feel cornered.
“If the Biden people decide that Kamala Harris is coming after Joe Biden, wait till you hear the Palin-esque stories about how much they tried to help her be prepared to be vice president and be in a position to run, and how much they decided not to happen. She’s not up to this. And if they, if the Biden people, feel threatened, you will hear stories about Kamala Harris as vice president that will not make her look good.”
According to Halperin, these aren’t just rumors, but confirmed reporting.
“That is reporting, that is not Spidey sense. If I ever get around to a book about 2024, you’ll read a lot about that.”
The implications of this rift are already being felt throughout the party. As The New York Post reports:
“Joe Biden’s allies are prepared to ‘escalate’ and reveal unflattering stories about Kamala Harris should the former vice president decide to talk about the former president’s cognitive decline.”
The comparison to Sarah Palin is no accident. As Halperin warned, the Biden team sees Harris’s performance as vice president as riddled with red flags, and they’re willing to make that public.
“They gave her every opportunity. And they did — they found in some instances that she had some issues.”
And The New York Post backs that up with damning details pulled from the book Original Sin, where Biden insiders described Harris as a “regular headache,” someone who “didn’t put in the work,” and who wasn’t “a very nice person.” Some even admitted to having “buyer’s remorse” and wishing the campaign had chosen Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer instead.
While Biden and Harris are still appearing to cooperate on the surface, Halperin makes it clear: this peace is fragile. One book quote, one veiled accusation, and the dam will break — fast.
The result? A Democratic Party civil war in the middle of a midterm campaign.
As we await the release of Harris’s new book, all eyes are on the veep. If she takes the bait or swings first, Biden’s team is ready to bury her.
Here is the full video and the full transcript of that exchange
(Edited for clarity; discussion begins around 28 min. mark)
Mark Halperin: All right, I’m going to break a little news here. Okay, we talk all the time about, you know, what did Kamala Harris know and when did you know it about his cognitive decline? I will tell you. And this has never been reported, barely at all. If the Biden people decide that Kamala Harris is coming after Joe Biden, wait till you hear the Palin-esque stories about how much they tried to help her be prepared to be vice president and be in a position to run, and how much they decided not happening. She’s not up to this. And if they, if the Biden people, feel threatened, you will hear stories about Kamala Harris as vice president that will not make her look good. Okay, so there’s a, there’s a there’s a there’s there’s a closeness to the couples. It’s not like they’re at war currently. But I’m telling you, if Joe Biden feels threatened, if his people feel threatened by her, this is going to escalate in a big way, and she will have a hard time defending against the stories. If that damn bursts, they were extraordinary in trying to help her do the job of vice president. They gave her every opportunity, and they did. They found, in some instances, that she had some issues. Dan Turrentine: Okay, moving forward, and that is reporting, not spidey sense, right? Mark Halperin: That is reporting, that is not spidey sense. If I ever get around to a book about 2024 you’ll read a lot about that.
This could be a full-blown disaster for the Democratic Party. Stay tuned.
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