Harris says leaving reelection decision to Biden was ‘recklessness,’ but she defends his abilities

Former Vice President Kamala Harris says it was “recklessness” for Democrats to leave it to President Joe Biden to decide whether to continue seeking another term last year, but she defends his ability to do the job, according an excerpt of her new book.

Harris, in an excerpt of “107 Days” published Wednesday in The Atlantic, writes that as questions swirled about whether the then-81-year-old Biden should seek reelection, she and others left the decision to him and first lady Jill Biden.

“Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness,” Harris said.

The remarks are the first time Harris has been publicly critical of Biden’s decision to run again — an ill-fated decision that saw him drop out in July 2024 after a disastrous debate performance, leaving her to head up the Democratic ticket and ultimately lose to Republican Donald Trump.

“The stakes were simply too high,” Harris writes in the book. “This wasn’t