Trump changes tune on VP Kamala Harris, now says she’s ‘better’ than Biden despite her ‘bad’ moments
Former President Donald Trump did an about-face on Vice President Kamala Harris during a Friday interview, saying he now believes she is a “better” option for the Democratic nomination than President Biden.
“I think she’d be better than him, actually,” Trump, 77, told radio host Hugh Hewitt after having given a less complimentary answer to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in August when asked the same question.
The former president told Carlson during an interview broadcast on X that “a lot of people” — though he never said who — wanted Harris kicked off the Democratic ticket in 2024 and her public appearances gave a “bad” impression.
“I don’t think other people would stand for it,” Trump said of Harris being removed as Biden’s running mate. “She has some bad moments. Her moments are almost as bad as his, I think his are worse actually.”
“She speaks in, uh, in rhyme. It’s weird. It’s weird,” Trump added. “The way she talks, ‘The bus will go here. And then the bus will go there. Because that’s what buses do.’ It’s weird. The whole thing is weird.”
During an October 2022 speech in Seattle to tout the Biden administration’s $1 billion funding of electric school buses, Harris had mused about the “nostalgia” the sight of a “yellow school bus” calls up in her.
“Who doesn’t love a yellow school bus, right? Can you raise your hand if you love a yellow school bus? Many of us went to school on the yellow school bus, right? It’s part of our experience growing up,” she said in an address at Lumen Field.
“It’s part of a nostalgia, a memory of the excitement and joy of going to school to be with your favorite teacher, to be with your best friends and to learn. The school bus takes us there.”
Critics have regularly mocked the vice president for her inarticulate speeches and repetitive definitions during her time in office on subjects ranging from “artificial intelligence” to “culture” to “women’s history.”
Trump had told Carlson that he expected Democrats to host “some kind of a primary and other people will get involved,” naming California Gov. Gavin Newsom as one potential Democratic challenger.
But on Friday, Trump sounded bullish about Harris’ presidential ambitions, as Democratic concerns have mounted over Biden’s age and flagging poll numbers.
“Mr. President, if people vote for Joe Biden, are they really voting for Kamala Harris?” Hewitt had initially asked.
“I think so,” Trump answered. “I mean, let’s see what happens. I’m not sure that he gets to the starting gate, to be honest. I don’t know … It seems like he’s locked into her for a lot of reasons.
“It would seem like the Democrats, if he doesn’t run, have to run her,” he added. “That’s what all of the professionals like you are saying. I’m not sure that that’s correct, but that’s what they’re saying.
“Yeah, you’re locked into her. And she might be, I can’t say worse. I think she’d be better than him, actually. I actually think that.”
The former president referred to the 81-year-old Biden as “grossly incompetent” earlier in the interview but added he was equally in effective “25 years ago” when serving as a US senator.
“He’s not fit for office. And I really think he’s a danger to democracy. I really believe that because of his incompetence,” Trump said, parroting typical Democratic attack lines against his own candidacy.
Harris recently lashed out at Trump for saying illegal aliens coming into the US over the southern border were “poisoning the blood of our country,” before botching an attempt to describe the stakes of next year’s election.
“You know, every election cycle we talk about this is the most election of our lifetime,” Harris told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on “The Last Word.”
“Lawrence, this one is, this one is,” she added, without correcting herself.
The former president currently leads Biden by 2.3 percentage points nationally, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average.
