- Jill Biden opposed her husband picking Kamala Harris to be VP after they clashed during a primary debate.
- Kamala Harris questioned his record on race during a Democratic presidential debate in June 2019.
- 'Why,' she asked, 'do we have to choose the one who attacked Joe,'" a new book quotes Jill Biden as saying, according to an extract seen by Fox News.
First Lady Jill Biden opposed her husband Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris to be his running mate after she "attacked" him during a Democratic presidential debate, a new book says.
The revelation was made in the upcoming book "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future" by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, according to an extract seen by Fox News.
"'There are millions of people in the United States,' she began. 'Why,' she asked, 'do we have to choose the one who attacked Joe?'" the book quotes Jill Biden after learning that Kamala Harris was the top pick for vice president.
The book notes that Harris attacked Biden more harshly than any other major candidate in the Democratic primaries. The Biden family had seen it "as a smear and a betrayal."
The two famously clashed during the first Democratic debate in June 2019, when Harris confronted Biden about working with segregationists in the Senate and discussed her personal history with school busing.
However, many in Biden's circle, including Ron Klain, now the White House chief of staff, advocated for Harris, arguing that she was the most qualified candidate.
"Choosing Harris will show people that you are magnanimous and forgiving, Klain told Biden. It will show the country just what a unifying leader you can be," the book says, according to Fox News.
The book details Biden's hesitation to choose Harris, Fox News reports. He cited concerns, including her past romantic relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, who appointed her to minor political positions.
It also outlines other vice-presidential candidates considered by the Biden campaign, Fox News said.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were considered, along with Stacey Abrams.
However, the book says Abrams "did not pass the test" to be a potential running mate candidate after losing the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, which suggested an inability to rally voters.
The Biden campaign concluded that Harris was the "safest of choices," the book says.
It is not the first time Jill Biden's anger towards Kamala Harris has been reported.
She told supporters on a conference call that Harris should "go fuck" herself for attacking her husband during the Democratic primaries, according to the "Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump," a book by Edward-Isaac Dovere published last year.
Jill Biden later did not deny having made the remark and told a reporter last year: "That was two years ago. We've moved on from that."
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