CNN analyst John King said Thursday evening Vice President Kamala Harris is a strong asset for the Biden campaign in the “black street community” despite other weaknesses she may possess.
During a recap of the 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, King responded to an interview between CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Harris. He noted that while Harris has a number of issues, one of her assets to the Biden campaign is her “potential star power” within key Democratic voting blocs. (RELATED: Panicked Dems Scramble For Biden Replacement After ‘Disaster’ Debate Performance)
“Joe Biden was vice president for eight years. If there‘s anyone who should have understood how hard it is to be vice president, how hard it is to establish an identity as vice president — it‘s him. Again, she‘s churned through staff. She has issues. There‘s no question about it,” King said.
“But she also has potential star power and on issues like reproductive rights and in the black street community — she is a great asset to this team, and they have kept her under wraps.”
Prior to King’s applause of Harris, he accused the campaign of “political malpractice” for not utilizing Harris more effectively despite her dismal poll numbers.
“The Republicans are going to probably disagree with me, but I think one of the greatest acts of political malpractice I have seen in my lifetime doing this is that they kept her under wraps for three years. Now she‘s out on the road. She has great appeal,” King said.
“Does she have weaknesses? Yes. Do Republicans view her as a liability? Yes. Are her polling numbers great? No. But she has appeal with the pieces of the Biden coalition where he is hurting the most. When you go into inner city Milwaukee, what do black Americans say? Where‘s the vice president, where has she been? They want the president to0, but she‘s right there —feisty communicator, good on television, and they kept her under wrap for three years.”
“Now she‘s out there busy on the campaign trail. I know in places — I know in Republican places you‘d beat her up, but in a close competitive race when you need all hands on deck, that is an asset that should have been working for them from day one,” King continued.
Following the debate, Harris was interviewed by Cooper and questioned on Biden’s performance. Despite rumors from Democrats that the party should begin to think about replacing Biden, Harris stood by the president’s ability for a second term, touting his accomplishments.
She did admit that Biden got off to a “slow start,” and said she wouldn’t deny or debate that, but made the case that the president is still the superior option to Trump for November.
