Top adviser blames Biden for Harris’ loss in new book

A top campaign aide to former Vice President Kamala Harris blames former President Joe Biden for Harris’ loss, saying “it’s all Biden” in a new book about the former commander in chief’s apparent deterioration during the 2024 race.

The perspective shared by David Plouffe, who worked on Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, underscores a frustration held by some Democrats: that Biden’s reluctance to remove himself earlier from the White House race sealed the fate of Harris’ election bid.

Discussing the impact Biden’s withdrawal in July of last year had on Harris’ chances, Plouffe described the then-vice president’s less than three-month bid for the White House as a “fucking nightmare.”

“And it’s all Biden…He totally fucked us,” Plouffe, who was also manager of former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and a senior adviser in his White House, told the authors of the report.

First reported on by The Guardian and Axios, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” — a new book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson — provides accounts from interviews with over 200 people about what the authors describe as the then-president’s physical and mental deterioration and the White House’s quiet campaign to conceal it. The book will be released May 20.

A Biden spokesperson did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment on Plouffe's statements.

The book goes on to detail how Plouffe would receive calls for donors concerned about Biden’s mental acuity and energy on the campaign trail. Plouffe said he tried to question the White House and Democratic Party about if they were confident Biden could win another election and was assured Biden was equipped to score a second term.

Despite ongoing concerns from the public and other lawmakers about his physical condition and mental acuity, Biden, White House officials and his family members held firm on their stance that Biden could defeat President Donald Trump throughout the former president’s since-collapsed reelection campaign.

But Biden and his team reached a fork in the road after his poor debate performance last June against Trump, which immediately sparked calls from top Democrats for Biden to withdraw from the race. Biden stepped aside a few weeks after the televised event.

Biden recently held himself accountable for Trump’s win during an interview on “The View” last week.

“Look, I was in charge and he won, so I take responsibility,” he said.