In October 2024, Ethel Kennedy passed away. There was a moment when Joe Biden, long booted from the Democratic ticket, spoke with Barack Obama, which looked intense. It was not a pleasant conversation. Donald J. Trump’s strength in the polls wasn’t dissipating, and Kamala Harris mightily struggled to take a commanding lead in the race. She couldn’t grasp the reins. Later, through lip readers, we learned what Biden told Obama: “She [Kamala] is not as strong as me.”
The death organs playing is nice touch. https://t.co/Zbn7xmMds6
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 16, 2024
“That’s true,” Obama replied. He later said they had time, which might have been more of a coping mechanism. Even with more time, there was no way Kamala and the Democrats could win, not with immigrant communities swinging 23 points against Democrats and voters 18-29 breaking heavily for Trump. Union workers were also hopping on the MAGA train. The Obama coalition had been Trumped.
We now learn, to the surprise of no one, that behind the scenes, Obama was working against Ms. Harris, who he felt didn’t have the makings of the president. She lacked the presidential timber. It was a double-dose of suck: Obama didn’t want either of these clowns leading the ticket (via Fox News):
Reporter and author Jonathan Allen said Tuesday that former President Barack Obama was working against former Vice President Kamala Harris after former President Joe Biden dropped out, advocating for an open primary because he didn't think Harris could win.
"President Obama absolutely did not think that Joe Biden should continue, according to our sources close to President Obama," Allen told MSNBC. "And he also didn’t want Kamala Harris to be the replacement for Biden. He didn’t think that she was the best choice for Democrats, and he worked really behind the scenes for a long time to try to have a mini-primary, or an open convention, or a mini-primary leading to an open convention, did not have faith in her ability to win the election."
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"As it turned out, she didn’t win, but he was really working against her," Allen continued.
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Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama did eventually endorse Harris, but their support came five days after the president announced he was dropping out and endorsed Harris himself.
"In one moment, he had set up a phone call with Congressman [James] Clyburn from South Carolina on the day that Joe Biden handed off the baton to Kamala Harris, and Obama had set up a call with Clyburn for like 5:30 that afternoon. And Clyburn thought to himself, this guy is going to try to rope me into the open convention thing, I better get my endorsement of Harris out there fast, so this is a short conversation," Allen said.
The most popular Democratic politician was lukewarm on Harris when the intraparty coup to boot Joe was complete. You can tell by what he said on the stump that he knew this duo was a loser ticket. Joe did everything he could to hamstring Harris, urging her not to distance herself from his disastrous agenda, which became his legacy.
“No daylight, kid” was the mantra. With a candidate like Harris, who had next to zero political skills and lacked the political acumen to navigate these ferocious political waters, running aground was inevitable, especially with how the country viewed Joe in the waning days of his failed presidency. Harris was just a younger, more vibrant, but equally brain-dead version of Biden.
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