Former President Joe Biden’s allies are reportedly prepared to “escalate” if former Vice President Kamala Harris questioned his mental fitness in her forthcoming book, according to veteran political journalist Mark Halperin.
Speaking Friday on “The Morning Meeting,” Halperin said stories about Harris’s time as Biden’s second-in-command are “Palinesque,” referencing former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was widely criticized for being unprepared during her 2008 run as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, the New York Post reported.
“I will tell you, and this has never been reported, barely at all: if the Biden people decide that Kamala is coming after Joe Biden, wait till you hear the ‘Palinesque’ stories about how much they tried to help her be prepared to be vice president and be in a position to run. And how much they decided, ‘Not happening. She’s not up to this,’” Halperin said.
In one infamous report following the 2008 election, campaign staffers claimed that Palin did not know Africa was a continent and that she could not name the three countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement — the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“If the Biden people feel threatened, you will hear stories about Kamala Harris as vice president that will not make her look good,” Halperin said.
“So there’s a closeness to the couples,” he added. “It’s not like they’re at war currently, but I’m telling you, if Joe Biden feels threatened, if his people feel threatened by her, this is gonna escalate in a big way.”
Halperin argued that Harris would have a “hard time defending against the stories if that dam bursts.”
Journalists Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper detail some of the frustrations Biden loyalists had with the vice president in their recent book, “Original Sin.”
In that book, Harris was described as a “regular headache” for the White House, according to Biden’s people.
“She often shied away from politically tough assignments when Biden had accepted such assignments as vice president,” the authors write. “She even turned down seemingly simple asks, such as headlining DC’s Gridiron Club dinner.”
“Many on the Biden team felt that Harris didn’t put in the work and was also just not a very nice person,” according to the book. “Several quietly expressed buyer’s remorse: They should have picked [Michigan Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer” as Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Halperin said Biden’s team was “extraordinary in trying to help her do the job of vice president.”
“They gave her every opportunity. And they did — they found in some instances that she had some issues,” Halperin noted.
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee has brought in several former top Biden White House aides to testify on the former president’s mental decline and his staff’s use of autopen to sign official documents.
It’s unclear if the GOP-led committee plans to ask or subpoena Harris for testimony.
Last week, Biden appeared disoriented and slurred his words during an appearance at a lawyers’ gala in Chicago on Thursday night, just months after the 82-year-old publicly disclosed his battle with aggressive prostate cancer.
Biden was met with a standing ovation as he slowly made his way onto the stage at the 100th annual awards gala of the National Bar Association, the nation’s oldest and largest network of predominantly black lawyers and judges.
Accompanied by two of his granddaughters, Biden cautiously walked across the stage, shook hands with the emcee, and then appeared momentarily confused as he turned to locate his seat, according to video footage.
“Biden was directed back to his place by others on the dais and slowly slouched into his chair before flashing a smile and pointing finger guns at the crowd,” the New York Post reported.
Later in the evening, Biden stumbled over his words multiple times during his 20-minute speech, in which he accused the Trump administration of engaging in an “existential” battle against minority communities and highlighted his own record on civil rights, The Post added.