Kamala Harris defends Biden as her allies stand ready to back her should he step aside
While some Democrats have floated names like Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom, Harris supporters say she shouldn’t be passed over if Biden drops out of the race.
WASHINGTON — In the week since President Joe Biden’s dismal debate performance, Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged, publicly and privately, as one of his fiercest defenders — and as the person with the most intense support to succeed him on the ticket if he were to step down.
NBC News spoke with seven sources who have stressed that while Harris is focused on building up confidence in Biden, her loyal allies are making it clear that should the chance emerge for her to step into the lead role, she would have broad support across the party. Those allies, who include a number of Black Democrats, have vocally said any attempt to push her aside this year would be met with forceful, vocal pushback.
“I think she’s done very well on her feet,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who added that while he continues to support Biden as the party’s nominee, Harris should not be passed over should Biden drop out. “She’s always been good. I think she’s just better. And I think that she’s better than any of the names that have been floated out there.”
Sharpton, a civil rights activist and an MSNBC host, added there is “no doubt” in his mind that the motivation of anyone trying to cast aside Harris, the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president, is “racist and misogynist.”
“If anyone tried it, they better know I’m on the tracks to block the train from going ahead,” Sharpton said of any effort to make someone other than Harris the top of the ticket. “When people voted for Biden to be the nominee, they were voting for the Biden-Harris ticket. How are you going to now come and separate that ticket and throw it open? There is no legitimate excuse. The calculation is ‘We can do this because she’s a woman and because she’s Black.’ Well, Blacks and women should not tolerate that calculation.”
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