NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As President Joe Biden try to live again In her tough re-election bid, Vice President Kamala Harris led a parade of black Democrats who warned Saturday that the threat of another Donald Trump presidency remains the most important calculation heading into November.
Yet in more than 20 minutes on stage at the Essence Culture Festival, Harris failed to acknowledge Biden’s position. dismal performance in debate or calls on the 81-year-old president to end his re-election campaign. In fact, she barely mentioned Biden Not at all – a stark contrast to members of the Congressional Black Caucus who have forcefully and repeatedly defended the president by name.
“This is probably the most important election of our lifetimes,” Harris said, before lashing out at Trump for calling himself a dictator, pushing the Supreme Court to the right and promising retaliation against his political enemies. “In 122 days, we all have the power to decide what kind of country we want to live in.”
Harris’ presence at the nation’s largest annual celebration of Black culture underscores the difficulty for the White House and his campaign in answering questions about the president’s fitness. The dynamic is particularly fraught for Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to be elected vice president, and for the Black Democrats who played such a significant role in electing her and Biden in 2020.
On the one hand, Harris is playing the traditional role of loyal lieutenant, a role she played enthusiastically and spontaneously in her television appearances immediately after Biden’s lackluster debate ended. But if Biden ultimately decides to step aside as the presumptive nominee, she would be among the favorites, if not the favorite, to carry the Democratic banner against Trump.
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Black leaders and voters who gathered in New Orleans, meanwhile, wavered Saturday between supporting Biden and insisting that if he ended his campaign, the party should elevate the barrier-breaking vice president rather than consider governors like Gavin Newsom of California or Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, both white.
“The role of a vice president is to be a No. 2, to be able to step in,” said Glynda Carr, who runs the political action organization Higher Heights, which works to elect more black women. “If the ticket was all white men, would we be talking about other people who have less experience and less qualifications?”
Antjuan Seawright, a black Democratic consultant close to Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Biden ally, put it more bluntly. “Joe Biden is not going anywhere,” he said. But if he did, “anyone other than Kamala would be malpractice — and it would tear the party apart.”
Seawright argued that the pressure on Biden to step aside has so far come only from white Democrats, at least publicly. That divide, he said, is largely about Black voters’ trust in Biden and their recognition of his record. But he added that it’s also about what’s good for the party as a whole, including Black politicians. Risking a contested convention, even one that nominates Harris, could result in widespread losses and, as a result, make it less likely than ever that House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries will become speaker of the House or that Harris or another Black woman will serve in the Oval Office.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and her colleagues echoed some of those sentiments.
“People say Joe Biden is too old. Hell, I’m older than Biden!” the 85-year-old congresswoman said. “There’s not going to be another Democratic nominee, and we better know that.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, highlighted the power Harris already wields.
“We have a Black female vice president in the United States of America, a sister who has come here to be with us today,” she said. “So let’s not kid ourselves. I know who I’m voting for. I’m with Team Biden-Harris, because we will always have a sister in the White House who will fight for us and make a difference.”
Waters said Biden’s support for black communities and the contrast with Trump should be enough. She called the former president a “good-for-nothing, lying, despicable human being” with a white nationalist agenda. “Who the hell do you think he’s going to go after?” Waters asked, noting Trump’s support from groups like the Proud Boys. “You know he’s serious.”
In more than a dozen interviews with Essence participants, opinions diverged about Biden’s strength as a candidate and his ability to stick around for another four years. But there was clear consensus on several points: Only Biden can decide his fate; if he steps down, he should support Harris; and defeating Trump is the top priority.
“I’m with him, absolutely,” said Erica Peterson of New Orleans. “He’s delivered, and a debate is not going to change my mind. … And if it’s not Joe Biden, I’m with her.”
Star Robert, a 37-year-old nurse from New York, said that if a change were to happen, Biden and Democrats could not credibly choose anyone other than Harris, given that the president, the party and voters have already chosen her as their second candidate. Still, she remains skeptical of Harris’ prospects.
“I’m not sure she’s done enough to earn the trust of enough voters,” Robert said. “I don’t know if it’s entirely her fault, I just haven’t seen enough of her, we haven’t seen enough of her. I don’t know where she stands.”
Regardless, Robert added, “I’m not sure the country is ready for another black president, and if we were ready for a woman, Hillary Clinton would have beaten the clown (Trump) the first time he ran.”
Harris, for her part, has responded to such skepticism while carefully avoiding the immediate drama of the campaign.
“Ambition is a good thing. We don’t have to retreat in silence,” she said of her status as a woman of color in powerful circles. “People in your life will tell you it’s not your time. It’s not your turn. No one like you has done it before. … I like to say I eat ‘no’ for breakfast.”
