Kamala Harris recently said that she would be ready to assume the presidency if President Joe Biden fell ill. There are many questions about the president’s fitness and age, as he will be 80 in November. Harris made her comments amid polls showing that most Americans, and a majority of Democratic voters, believe that Biden is too old to serve a second term.
Harris said in an interview on Wednesday that she is not only prepared to take over the presidency but that President Biden is still able to fulfill his duties despite his age.
In a Wednesday interview, Kamala Harris said that she was ready to assume the presidency in the event President Biden could not govern because of issues with his health or age.
Biden is the oldest President in U.S. history. He will be 80 in November and 81 in 2024 if Democrats win. Harris said she was ready to be president, even though the idea is “hypothetical”.
“Joe Biden is going to be fine, so that is not going to come to fruition,” Harris told The Associated Press in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she was attending a regional summit. “But let us also understand that every vice president — every vice president — understands that when they take the oath they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president.”
She added, “I’m no different.”
If Biden dies, Harris could become the next president. This would bring both opportunity and danger. It will have a big impact on public opinion, which has not been very positive ever since Harris was elected. Polls show her performance as vice president is not well received.
She could benefit from a period of time when she’s in charge. This could be good for her if there are no major issues during her tenure in the Oval Office. In the event that Biden is unable to, unwilling to, or unaware to keep the White House in a mess, she may be the presidential candidate in 2024.
What happens if she gets in the driver’s seat and messes things up even worse than Biden already has? If a serious problem arises, or existing problems get worse under her watch, she will sustain irreversible damage to her political prospects if she does not handle them competently. It would only solidify the negative perception people already have of her and could doom any future political aspirations.
It is worth noting that, in her role as vice president, Harris has already turned in a rather underwhelming performance, which could indicate that the same would be true if Biden has to take a break. In light of this, Democrats had better hope against hope that nothing happens to the president. It could spell disaster for the party in general.
