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Former Vice President Kamala Harris left comedian Jon Stewart shocked when she said she believed former President Joe Biden was 'fully competent to serve" another term during an episode of Stewart's The Weekly Show podcast released on Thursday (October 30).
Harris said she regrets not making more of a distinction between herself and Biden during her presidential campaign last year, at which point Stewart clarified that he wasn't asking about "the competence conversation," rather the difference in policies she would've implemented compared to the former president.
“No, I’m not talking about competence,” Harris said. “I am not talking about competence at all. No, I believe he was fully competent to serve.”
"Do you really?" Stewart said.
"Yeah, I do," Harris responded.
"That surprises me, actually," Stewart said.
"No, I do. But there's a distinction to be made between running for president and being president," Harris added.
"What's the distinction?" Stewart asked.
"Well, being a candidate for president of the United States is about being in a marathon at a sprinter's pace, having tomatoes thrown at you every step you take," Harris said. “And to be the seated president, the sitting president while doing that – it’s a lot. It’s a lot.”
Stewart then questioned whether a person whose incapable of facing the rigors of a campaign could be fit to serve as president.
“I think it’s a hard case to make for people that he didn’t have the stamina to run, but he had the stamina to govern because I think most people view the presidency as a marathon run at a sprint with tomatoes being thrown at you in terms of governance,” he said.
Harris' appearance on Stewart's podcast was part of her media tour promoting her 107 Days memoir chronicling her 2024 presidential campaign, which included claiming she was "in the worst position" to be the one to advise Biden to drop out of the 2024 election as she would seem "incredibly self-serving" and noted that it was ultimately up to the then-president and his wife, former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, though fearing a loss to President Donald Trump.
Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee after he announced his decision to end his campaign in July 2024 and was defeated by Trump after she ran the shortest presidential campaign in American history.