Harris calls Biden’s 2024 run ‘reckless,’ details campaign chaos and White House tensions in new book

Kamala Harris viewed it as reckless for former President Joe Biden to pursue re-election in 2024 but believed she was the least positioned to dissuade her 81-year-old boss from running, according to excerpts from her newly released book on Wednesday.

Biden ended his re-election bid on July 21, 2024, following a widely criticised debate performance against Republican challenger Donald Trump, which led to growing public concern among aides and Democratic leaders over his ability to sustain a full campaign or serve another term.

“Of all the people in the White House, I was in the worst position to make the case that he should drop out. I knew it would come off to him as incredibly self-serving if I advised him not to run,” The Atlantic quoted former Vice President Harris as saying in her new book 107 Days.

“‘It’s Joe and (his wife) Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.

“The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision,” she added.

Harris, 60, became the Democratic nominee with just 107 days to campaign before the general election. She ultimately lost to 79-year-old Donald Trump in November and has maintained a low public profile since. In July, she announced she would not seek the governorship of California.

Biden’s abrupt exit from the race sparked scrutiny over whether the White House had concealed key details about his cognitive health. While some questioned if critical information had been withheld, Biden’s senior aides dismissed such claims, insisting he remained capable of making major decisions.

In her book, Harris rejects any suggestion of a coordinated White House cover-up, though she acknowledges that signs of Biden’s age-related decline became more evident as the campaign intensified.

“On his worst day, he was more deeply knowledgeable, more capable of exercising judgment, and far more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best,” she wrote.

“But at 81, Joe got tired,” she added.

Biden, now 82, holds the distinction of being the oldest person to have served as U.S. president. He has since been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones.

Harris, who served as Biden’s vice president from 2021 to 2025, was the first woman—and the first person of South Asian and Black heritage — to hold the office.

In her book, she recounts the intense criticism she faced from right-wing opponents and others during her tenure, noting that she received minimal support from the White House in countering those attacks.

“They had a huge comms team; they had Karine Jean-Pierre briefing in the pressroom every day. But getting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible,” Harris wrote.

With inputs from agencies