President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Vice President Kamala Harris will “cut her own path” as president if she is elected in November, responding to criticism she has faced about distancing herself from him.
Biden, who dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Harris as his replacement in July, explained every president charts their own path and said he did the same after serving with former President Barack Obama for eight years.
“Every president has to cut their own path,” Biden said. “That’s what I did. I was loyal to Barack Obama, but I cut my own path as president. That’s what Kamala’s going to do. She’s been loyal so far, but she’s going to cut her own path.”
“Kamala will take the country in her own direction,” he continued. “And that’s one of the most important differences in this election. Kamala’s perspective on our problems will be fresh and new. Donald Trump’s perspective is old and failed and, quite frankly, thoroughly [and] totally dishonest.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung responded with unfounded claims, saying Biden “hates” Harris.
“Everyone knows Biden hates Kamala after she led a coup that resulted in him pulling out of the race,” he said. The thing is that Kamala and Biden are the same person with the same record of failure.”
Trump and his team have been attempting to push the narrative that Harris is not different from Biden, who has a low approval rating.
Biden’s comments come after Harris faced criticism for saying during an October 8 interview on The View that “not a thing comes to mind” in response to a question about how she might govern differently than Biden.
Harris has a narrow 0.7% lead over Trump in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, according to the 538 polling average.
“I represented Delaware, but I wouldn’t have gotten elected without Philadelphia, and that’s the truth,” Biden said Tuesday.