Outgoing DNC Chief Wishes Dems Had Stuck With Biden
Outgoing Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Jaime Harrison said in an interview with The Associated Press released Friday that Democrats may have been able to beat President Donald Trump in the November election…
Outgoing Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Jaime Harrison said in an interview with The Associated Press released Friday that Democrats may have been able to beat President Donald Trump in the November election had they not tossed former President Joe Biden from the race.
Harrison lamented the loss to Trump, blaming it on the limited time allotted to former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign, the AP reported. Democrats had only a few months to garner support for Harris after several prominent party members pushed for Biden’s withdrawal from the race following a disastrous debated performance against Trump in June.
“Joe Biden gave the State of the Union, people said it was one of the best State of the Unions that we’ve ever seen,” Harrison told the AP. “Then we move forward to the debate, and people were like, that was a horrible debate performance. And then my thought was: ‘Joe Biden secured the nomination. The primary was done, and so, I’m a loyal guy. We’re riding with Biden.’”
When asked directly if he supported Biden getting booted from the race, Harrison told the AP, “That’s my normal default, is that you stick by your people, right, particularly people who have worked hard on behalf of the party.”
“I went into this thinking, OK, you’ve got probably the most successful of my lifetime legislative president who has poured tons of money into making sure that not just Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get elected, but Democrats get elected — not just in the battleground states, but all states who support a lot of resources and his own time fundraising in order to strengthen the state parties,” Harrison continued. “And then when he hits a roadblock, when he hits a bump in the road, do we stick with him, or do we jettison him? That’s the mentality that I had going into this. And my nature is, ‘I’m on the team with you, you’re my quarterback. You got sacked a few times. But you know what? I’m going to block the hell out of the next person that’s coming at you.’ And that is not always the mentality of everybody in my party. And so sometimes, people look on the sidelines, ready to call in the backup.”