Vice President Kamala Harris stumbled while trying to push back Wednesday against critics of President Biden’s likely re-election bid as she took a post-State of the Union tour of morning TV.
Harris, 58, told ABC “Good Morning America” anchor George Stephanopoulos that Biden, 80, is fit to serve another term, even as polling shows most Democrats think the party should nominate another candidate in 2024.
“I mean, George, I think that age is more than a chronological fact, to be very frank with you,” Harris told Stephanopoulos while touting Biden’spurportedaccomplishments.
“It’s about, um, thinking about, ah, whether we have in our leader — which we do in Joe Biden — somebody who is bold,” the veep struggled to add. “I mean, think about it. It … what he has achieved in his presidency in only two years in is historic.”
An AP-NORC poll released Monday showed that only 37% of registered Democrats want the octogenarian to run for re-election, down from 52% this fall. Meanwhile, an ABC News-Washington Post survey found 41% of Americans said they were worse off financially since when Biden took office, and his average favorability rating sat at 42%, according to RealClearPolitics.
Biden has not formally announced a run for a second term, but was expected to in the coming days. He would be 86 if he leaves office in 2029 having served out a full second term.
“I think the president was clear that the job was not done,” added Harris, who has been the subject of unflattering reports about her own potential as a White House candidate and whose own average favorability rating sits at 38%, according to RCP.
“I think what people want to know is what have you done? And when you look at what President Biden has achieved, what our administration has achieved, not to mention foreign policy, something you care deeply about and have worked on, um, I think you will see that we have a very bold and vibrant president in Joe Biden,” she said.