- VP Kamala Harris in a recent interview told the WSJ that she was "ready to serve" as president.
- "There's no question about that," she replied when asked if she's ready to sit in the Oval Office.
- Harris made the remarks as concerns about President Biden's age have emerged as an issue in the 2024 race.
Vice President Kamala Harris in a recent interview said she was "ready to serve" as president amid voter concerns about President Joe Biden' age — which where only amplified after a special counsel's report last week raised questions about his mental acuity.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal just two days before Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on Biden's handling of classified documents, Harris was asked if questions about the 81-year-old Biden's ability to serve for another term meant that she had to demonstrate to the electorate that she'd be ready to sit in the Oval Office.
"I am ready to serve. There's no question about that," Harris told The Journal.
The vice president then told the newspaper that people who've observed her job performance are "fully aware of my capacity to lead."
Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney, California state attorney general, and US senator for California, came into office as a historic figure — as the first female, Black, and Indian American vice president in American history.
Even before winning the 2020 election, Biden said that Harris would be a full partner in the White House, which many saw as the veteran Washington figure setting up Harris as the future of the Democratic Party — and as his successor in the 2028 presidential election.
But Harris seemingly struggled early in her vice presidential term, with high-profile staff shakeups and a sense from many voters that her assignments — tackling the root causes of migration from Central America and pushing for sweeping voting-rights legislation that was eventually blocked by Senate Republicans — had not been successful.
However, over the past year, Harris has emerged as a forceful advocate for the administration's agenda. She's been the face of the party's push to advance abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. She has also prodded Biden to express more public sympathy toward the humanitarian plight of Palestinians in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, according to Politico.
Republicans like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have sought to use the potential of Harris ascending to the presidency as a political liability against the Democratic ticket. But Harris throughout her vice presidency has remained relatively popular with Black voters and young voters, two critical groups whose turnout will be critical if Biden is to remain in the White House past January 2025.
While Biden was not charged by Hur over his handling of classified documents, the report cited the president's "hazy" memory — a characterization which led Biden to forcefully push back in a news conference last week where he defended his acuity and his ability to run for reelection this fall and serve for a second term.