Kamala Harris Says Biden Didn’t Choose Her Because of Her Race: “It Just Happened”

William FurneyNov 25, 2023

Minute Read

President Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to again be his running mate for the 2024 election not because she happens to be black but for other reasons, the vice president has suggested.

NYT Podcast Interview

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Kamala Harris, 59, was speaking on The Run-Up, a podcast about the 2024 presidential election hosted by New York Times reporter Astead Herndon, when she was asked why Biden again chose her for the Democratic Party ticket.

The Black Vote

Herndon had been wondering if Biden opted again for Harris because she is black and he wants to appeal to black voters in his attempt to win a second term at the White House next November.

Probing Biden’s Selection of VP Candidate

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Suggesting that the president “needed to choose a black woman … that is obviously you,” the reporter asked: “How should it matter, does it matter, that that narrative has existed, that Biden needed to choose someone who was a black person, and should it matter?”

Harris Didn’t Understand

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The vice president sounded flummoxed by the line of questioning, and said she didn’t understand what Herndon was talking about.

Another Attempt

Herndon tried again with his question, asking: “Does it matter that, that kind of narrative around Biden needed to choose a black woman as a running mate still exists, and has hovered over that selection?”

Not Going There

Harris refused to directly answer the reporter, instead saying “it happened” that she was chosen by the president to be his running mate and that “I honestly don’t understand your question. Has it lingered?”

‘Nothing Lingers About ‘Black’ Choice’

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The vice president added that President Biden “chose a Black woman. That woman is me. So I don’t know that anything lingers about what he should choose. He has chosen; he asked me to join him on the ticket.”

Biden and Harris for 2024

National polling suggests that Biden, 81, and Harris will be the Democratic choice for 2024 when primaries are held around the country early next year.

Way Ahead of Field

An average of national polls puts Biden and Harris at 71 percent of Democratic voter support. That compares to just 8.8 percent for the author Marianne Williamson and 4.7 percent for Dean Phillips, a Democratic representative from Minnesota.

Positive View of RFK Jr

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Controversial political scion Robert F. Kennedy, 69, had also been seeking the Democratic nomination but switched to an independent campaign. National polling shows that 37.9 percent of American voters have a favorable view of the environmental lawyer whose father was senator Robert F. Kennedy and uncle president John F. Kennedy.

Democratic Fury

Democrats are angry, say political analysts, because RFK’s defection from his famous family’s cherished Democratic party threatens to draw support away from Biden in the 2024 election and potentially help to get former president Donald Trump elected again.

Trump Also a Frontrunner

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Trump, 77, is leading the GOP field for the party’s nomination and is likely to be its candidate for the 2024 election. That could set the stage for a duel between Trump and Biden that would essentially be a rerun of the 2020 vote that Trump lost and continues to insist was “rigged” and “stolen” from him.

Biden and Trump Concerns

Harris may be on the Democratic nomination ticket for 2024 but her boss is facing growing questions about his advanced age and apparent infirmity — as is Trump, who is just a few years younger. Both men have suffered a series of recent incidents in which they forgot which city they were in, stumbled and tripped and also appeared rambling and incoherent when addressing reporters.

Americans Don’t Want Biden

Polling shows that most Americans, including Democratic voters, do not want Biden to run again, instead preferring a younger, more vibrant candidate. There are suggestions that should he step down, Vice President Harris would take his place in the 2024 race — but she has denied such a scenario would occur.

Gavin Newsom Run?

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As the primaries near, rumors are swirling that California Governor Gavin Newsom, might enter the Democratic field of hopefuls. They come amid a recent trip Newsom, 56, made to China and apparent efforts to raise his profile nationally. President Biden said at a recent event that Newsom “could have the job I’m running for.”

‘America’s Soul’ for 2020 Vote

Also on the New York Times’ podcast, Harris says her 2024 ticket might possibly be based on a theme of the “soul of America, Part 2” and says that many black voters have become disillusioned with politics and need to be won back.