Just one day after Kamala Harris dropped out of the presidential race, Joe Biden, a leading Democratic contender for the presidency, spoke with reporters in Ames during his multi-city “No Malarkey” bus tour of Iowa, reports Reuters.
“Senator Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be,” Biden told reporters in Ames, per Politico. “I talked to her yesterday. She’s solid. She can be the president one day herself. She can be the vice president. She can go on to be a Supreme Court justice.”
Even though Biden clashed with Harris during a debate earlier this year over busing, he still praised her. “Senator Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be,” Biden told reporters, according to a video posted by NBC News. “I talked to her yesterday. She’s solid. She can be the president one day herself. She can be the vice president. She can go on to be a Supreme Court justice.”
Joe Biden is not just being nice because it’s the right thing to do. Politico notes that Biden’s advisers have long acknowledged that their candidate, a 77-year-old white man, would probably need a woman of color to help balance out his ticket. And the first name that came to mind, before Biden entered the race, was Stacy Adams, the former candidate for Governor of Georgia.
Another possible running mate could be Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Biden surrogate, has been quietly mentioned as a possible running mate.
Harris, who withdrew from the race Tuesday due to financial pressures and after months of polling in single digits, is the former Attorney General of California. She knew Biden’s late son, Beau Biden, who served as attorney general of Delaware.
Biden appeared to be genuinely shocked when he heard the news of Harris’s withdrawal from the campaign on Tuesday, reports CNN News.
“My reaction is she’s of first-rate intellect, a first-rate candidate and a real competitor,” he said. “I have mixed emotions about it because she is really a solid, solid person, and loaded with talent. And I’m sure she’s not dropping out on wanting to make the changes she cares about.”
