Vice President Harris said she’s ready for the presidency in an interview last week, amid concerns about President Biden’s age.
“I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that,” Harris told the Wall Street Journal when asked about the challenge of convincing voters she’s up for the job.
Those who see her work are “fully aware” of her “capacity to lead,” Harris said in the interview, just days before a special counsel report stoked renewed questions about Biden’s age and mental aptitude.
Special counsel Robert Hur decided against bringing charges against the president over his mishandling of classified documents, but his report on the probe called Biden an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
Biden fired back in a tense press conference Thursday, defending his memory and mental fitness to serve in the Oval Office.
But the comments in the report added fuel to persistent concerns about whether Biden, 81, should be running for reelection to a second White House term. Biden’s top GOP competitor in the presidential race, former President Trump, is 77.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted after the special counsel’s report was released found that a whopping 86 percent of Americans think Biden’s too old to serve in office.
At the same time, more than half — or 59 percent — think both Biden and Trump are too old.
Harris, 59, has previously said she’s prepared to be president “if necessary,” but she brushed off concerns about Biden’s fitness to be commander in chief.
Last month, she slammed Republicans for their critiques on the issue, arguing “they have nothing to run on.”
“I’ve been in the Oval Office where heads of various countries — allies — have called literally to ask Joe Biden for his advice,” she said.
Republican strategist Scott Jennings said last week that Harris “became, squarely, an issue in this election” after the special counsel report.
“There aren’t too many Americans who are going to look at this and say, ‘This guy is up to serving for five more years as president of the United States,’” Jennings said.