During CNN’s debate coverage on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris responded to a question on if President Joe Biden is the same person in the White House as the one who was on the debate stage by stating that Biden has performed well as President and “I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes, when I’ve been watching the last three-and-a-half years of performance.”
After Harris talked about what Biden has done in office, Cooper asked, “But is that the man — the man who we saw on the stage tonight, is that the person you see in meetings every day?”
Harris responded, “The person that you saw on the debate stage that has, for the last three-and-a-half years, up until today, performed in a way that has been about — whether it be in the Oval Office, negotiating bipartisan deals so that we have an infrastructure — a real infrastructure plan where we’re putting trillions of dollars on the streets of America to upgrade our infrastructure, whether it be the person I see in the Oval Office, who is meeting with heads of the military and the intelligence community and in the Situation Room, ensuring the safety of America, the person I see in Joe Biden on the world stage, convening world leaders who often ask for his advice, most recently, just during the G7 Conference. So, I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes, when I’ve been watching the last three-and-a-half years of performance.”
Later, Cooper asked, “The person we saw tonight, the President we saw tonight on that stage, is that how he is every day?”
Harris answered, “The Joe Biden that I work with every day, is someone who, as I have said, has performed in a way that has been about bringing people into the Oval Office, Republicans and Democrats, to compromise in a way that is extraordinary these days, because it just doesn’t happen, but Joe Biden can make it happen. The Joe Biden I see is someone who goes to our allies around the world and strengthens NATO to the point that there are two new members of NATO, who, just about four years ago, people said, [does] NATO even have a reason for existing? The Joe Biden I know is someone who has delivered 800,000 new manufacturing jobs and [is] bringing manufacturing back to the United States, not shipping jobs out, like Donald Trump did. So, that’s the Joe Biden I know.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
