Vice President Kamala Harris was confused by questions during an interview about whether the “narrative” surrounding President Biden’s decision to choose her as his running mate in part because she was a Black woman really mattered.
The New York Times’ Astead Herndon sat down with Harris for an interview in Chicago in August for the outlet’s “Run Up” podcast that was published Thursday.
Herndon asked Harris about Biden’s running mate selection in 2020. Biden committed to naming a woman as his running mate, but several prominent Democrats called on him to name a Black woman, and he noted during the run-up to his decision that Black women were among his finalists.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the first Black vice president in American history. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
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“He came to the decision that he needed to choose a Black woman,” Herndon said. “While that is obviously about you, it’s not necessarily you personally, but your identity. How should it matter, does it matter that that narrative has existed, that Biden needed to choose someone who was a Black person, and should it matter?”
Harris told Herndon that she didn’t understand the question.
“Does it matter that, that kind of narrative around Biden needed to choose a Black woman as a running mate still exists, and has hovered over that selection?” he asked again.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks with President Joe Biden during an event marking National Small Business Week in the Rose Garden at the White House on May 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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“It happened,” she said, laughing. “I don’t think, I honestly don’t understand your question. Has it lingered?”
“He chose a Black woman, that woman is me, so I don’t know that anything lingers about what he should choose. He has chosen, he asked me to join him on the ticket,” she continued. Herndon said he would “move on.”
Herndon reported in October that allies of the vice president were frustrated by the Democratic criticism of Harris.
“It’s disrespectful,” Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., who was appointed to the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat, told the Times. “And the thing that makes it more disrespectful is that we’re talking about a historic VP who has been a high-quality partner and asset to the country at a time when everything is at stake. Right now is the time to respect what she’s done and what she brings.”
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks outside the White House on November 08, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The late Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., told the New York Times in 2020 that race was an essential factor in the decision by Biden.
“I think he came to the conclusion that he should pick a Black woman,” Reid said at the time. “They are our most loyal voters and I think that the Black women of America deserved a Black vice-presidential candidate.”
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