Former President Joe Biden’s attempt to run for a second term and remain in the race after his defeat in the July 2024 debate with current White House chief Donald Trump has dashed the chances of the next Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris.
David Plouffe, a former adviser to former US President Barack Obama and Harris’s campaign aide, told the authors of the book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. A copy was obtained by the Guardian.
The book mentions calls to Plouffe from Democratic sponsors who expressed concern about the former US president’s “decline in energy, loss of cognitive skills and ability to speak.” According to the former aide, he was repeatedly assured by the White House and the Democratic Party that Biden was capable of winning another US presidential election.
According to the authors of the book, popular Democratic politicians repeatedly tried to dissuade the former White House chief from running for another presidential term.
Trump defeated Harris in the US presidential election held on November 5, 2024. A total of 304 electors voted for him, while his opponent received only 167 votes.
On January 4, Harris, who was then Vice President of the US, stumbled twice while taking the oath of allegiance to the American flag. This happened during the swearing-in ceremony for new members of the Senate.
At the end of March, the new head of the White House revoked access to classified information from Harris, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the Biden family. He also denied access to this information to former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former National Security Advisor Jacob Sullivan.
