Vice-President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that she did not regret defending President Joe Biden against claims that he had declined mentally, saying that she believes he has the “intelligence, the commitment and the judgment and disposition” Americans expect from their President.

“No, not at all. Not at all,” the vice-president said when asked if she regretted saying Biden was “extraordinarily strong” in the moments following the disastrous debate in June that led him to abandon his bid for re-election a month later. “He is so smart and loyal to the American people,” she said.

In her first prime-time interview since Biden stepped aside and she became the new face of the Democratic Party, Harris continued to embrace the President and the record she has been a part of for almost four years. She told CNN’s Dana Bash that the administration’s efforts to help the economy recover after the pandemic and its push to secure the border are part of a record worth running on.

But she talked about Biden mostly in the past tense — fondly, but with a kind of nostalgia that made it clear that he no longer represents the future of the country that she hopes to be leading in January.

The challenge for her campaign over the next 67 days, top advisers say, is tricky: She must forge her own political identity separate from the President, who was pushed out amid voter concerns about his age and capacity to serve. But she can’t afford to break from his accomplishments, which remain popular, or to disrespect Biden, who remains a beloved figure among many in the party.

“History is going to show,” she said, “not only has Joe Biden led an administration that has achieved those extraordinary successes, but the character of the man is one that he has been in his life and career, including as a President, quite selfless and puts the American people first.”

Her reminiscing about Biden’s place in history — she said it was “one of the greatest honours of my career” to serve with him — came just after she said she was determined to “turn the page” on a decade of American politics that has not been good for the country.

“Of course, the last three-and-a-half years has been part of your administration,” Bash reminded the vice-president.

Harris said she was talking about “an era that started about a decade ago”, an apparent reference to the beginning of former President Donald Trump’s first campaign for the White House in 2015. She said the era represented a “warped” idea that “the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down.”

That was clearly directed at Trump, and she suggested that the warped era would continue if he returned to the White House next year.

Throughout the interview, she twice used her campaign slogan — “a new way forward” — to send a message to voters that they should not simply expect a second Biden term if she wins. “I think that people are ready for a new way forward, in a way that generations of Americans have been fuelled by hope and by optimism,” she told Bash.

What she did not do on Thursday was describe in any detail how that new future would look very different from the America under Biden’s leadership.

Even in response to a question about the violence in West Asia, she did not stray at all from the position staked out by the President following the attack by Hamas on Israel last year.

“I’m unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defence and its ability to defend itself, and that’s not going to change,” she said, adding that she remains committed to “a two-state solution where Israel is secure and in equal measure, the Palestinians have security and self-determination and dignity.”

New York Times News Service