Former Vice President Kamala Harris faced pointed questions — and some on-air criticism — during a recent interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Sarah Ferguson, who pressed her about both her new memoir and her time alongside President Joe Biden.
Harris has been touring widely to promote her book, 107 Days, a candid account of her brief presidential run. During the conversation, Ferguson challenged her on issues surrounding Biden’s mental fitness, a topic that has drawn renewed attention among Democrats.
“Didn’t you also have a responsibility?” Ferguson asked. “You were one of the people in the room…. Didn’t you have a responsibility as an American to step up and say something at that point?”
“I did not question Joe Biden’s capacity to be president at all,” Harris replied firmly.
Ferguson pushed again, suggesting that Biden’s inability to acknowledge his own frailties had left Harris in an untenable position. Harris shifted the focus to former President Donald Trump, calling his platform misleading to voters. Ferguson interjected, “That is a world-class pivot, but it is not the question I asked you. The question is about Joe Biden. Are you still reluctant to criticize the former president?”
“In what regard, please?” Harris asked, urging Ferguson to clarify. Ferguson then pressed whether Biden’s self-perception had made Harris’s role in the campaign “impossible.”
“He was not frail as president of the United States,” Harris insisted.
“But he had frailties,” Ferguson countered. “We all saw the debate.”
“I do believe that Joe Biden had the capacity to be president of the United States and I have never doubted that,” Harris said. “If you want to talk about whether he had the ability to endure what a race for president in 2024 would require, as I’ve said in the book, I had concerns.”
When Ferguson asked if Harris was avoiding criticizing Biden publicly, Harris replied, “Of course not. I wouldn’t have written the book if I didn’t want to be frank about that.”
In one viral moment, Ferguson asked, “Does it make you angry that former President Biden still says he would have won?”
“I… am focused on the present,” Harris responded.
