Kamala Harris: Biden's 'Slow Start' Was 'Obvious to Everyone'

Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that President Biden had a "slow start" in his debate against Donald Trump on Thursday night, but she insisted that he finished "strong" in a performance that triggered a new round of concerns within their own party about Biden's fitness to be their standard-bearer, the AP reports. Harris gave interviews on CNN and MSNBC amid growing Democratic panic over Biden's performance, which fueled longstanding questions about whether the 81-year-old president should step aside. "It was a slow start. That's obvious to everyone. I'm not going to debate that point," Harris said in an interview on CNN following the debate. "I'm talking about the choice for November. I'm talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime."

As she acknowledged Biden's uneven performance, Harris emphasized that the contrast between Biden and Trump ultimately has to be on Biden's performance in office, rather than in one debate. "I got the point that you're making about a one and a half hour debate tonight. I'm talking about three and a half years of performance in work that has been historic," Harris said in a tense exchange with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. She concluded her MSNBC interview by saying that "only one of the two people on that debate stage, only one of them has the endorsement of his vice president. And let's not forget that." (Mike Pence has so far declined to endorse Trump.)