Trump leads Harris by two percentage points in a general election matchup, according to a recent poll
Carville tells Democrats to be 'careful' with Harris at top of ticket, warns it will be a 'close race'
Democratic strategist James Carville warned Democrats to be "careful" with Vice President Harris at the top of the ticket, saying there was "tough sledding ahead" in the presidential race.
Democratic strategist James Carville warned members of his party to be "careful" in their support for Vice President Harris, and said there was "tough sledding ahead."
"This has been a real change in mood in the party and around the country, but we got to be a little careful. There's about ten percent too much triumphalism going on, and you know, it’s going to be a very difficult race," Carville said during a Wednesday interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"It’s going to be very close, and I understand that people are feeling a lot better, and they're excited. But that excitement has got to be tempered with realism, and the realism is she has a tough campaign on, and as you say, she’s got several things she’s got to accomplish at the same time," he cautioned.
Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, received widespread support from members of her party after President Biden announced he would drop out of the race.
BIDEN MAKES BIZARRE CALL IN TO HARRIS HEADQUARTERS HOURS AFTER DROPPING OUT OF RACE
Democratic strategist James Carville joins MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
"They’re having to put a campaign together right away. They were obviously thinking about this ahead of time, but they got to accomplish, between now and the convention, they got to accomplish what most campaigns have eight months to do," Carville continued.
He warned that former President Trump had a lot of support behind him.
"We also got a locked-in and entrenched opponent who’s got a large part of the country behind him who are going to pull out — and they don’t care what’s true of what’s fair or anything else — and you got to be ready for that at every point. And all I’m saying to Democrats is, enjoy yourself, feel good, but it’s tough sledding ahead, and let’s get together and get this thing done," Carville said.
MSNBC's John Heilman asked about some of Harris's weaknesses, including her work on the border crisis and questions surrounding Biden's health and ability to serve.
Carville said Harris would have to "defend" and "discuss" the questions about a possible cover-up of Biden's health issues.
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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two as she departs on campaign travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., July 23, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/Pool)
He suggested Harris point out that Republicans "walked away" from the border bill in Congress. He also said Harris was "never" the border czar.
"The second thing that she can point to, rather legitimately, is border crossings are down. Are we going to win that issue? No, we are not going to win it, but we can do a lot better. And the issue, I think to some extent, will run out of steam if she gives effective, cogent answers," he said.
Brzezinski argued that Harris should blame the issues at the border on the Republicans as well.
"They had a deal. Team Biden/Harris gave the Republicans the best deal they could have gotten. They had it," she said. "They killed it for Donald Trump. So she can put that right back on them. That is on them. They could have had everything they wanted and more, and they decided against it for gross politics, for Donald Trump."
A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday found that Donald Trump leads Harris 49% to 47%.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
