Former President Trump said Vice President Kamala Harris would be easier to beat than President Biden—but it's not so simple.Annabelle Gordon/CNP/ZUMA
Despite his calls for “unity” this week, former President Trump denigrated President Biden within minutes of the Democratic president’s announcement that he would no longer seek reelection this November.
Trump called Biden “the single worst president by far in the history of our country” in a call with CNN, adding that he believes Vice President Kamala Harris—who Biden endorsed to replace him as the nominee—will be easier to defeat than Biden.
One problem with that? The entire Trump campaign was set up to not just beat Democrats but specifically Joe Biden. As the Atlantic chronicled in a long story, the campaign for Trump 2024 was all about Biden being weak—and old. How that all will shift if Harris, or another Democrat, is the nominee is unclear.
As my colleague Jamilah King wrote, Harris’s background as a prosecutor—and the strength she showed in questioning Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation—could make her the perfect fit to take on Trump, a now-convicted felon. As Jamilah wrote:
In the ill-fitting vice president job, many have forgotten how smart, decisive, and appealing Harris can be when the role fits. If the job is to attack Trump on his criminal record, who better than a prosecutor?
Not only that, Harris has also been a more forceful messenger than Biden on abortion rights—a winning issue for Democrats. A CNN poll showed that Harris polled better against Trump than Biden did, though Trump still maintained a 47-45 lead in the hypothetical matchup.
All this may be why, as I wrote earlier this month, Republicans have been running against Harris long before Biden endorsed her as the Democratic nominee. She’s long been a threat to Trump—and could soon be fighting him for the presidency.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
