Former Vice President Kamala Harris says she “knew something was a little off” with President Joe Biden during the final weeks of his 2024 reelection campaign.
Harris made the remarks during an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast, where she reflected candidly on the campaign and her evolving relationship with Biden.
A Call That Raised Concern
Harris described a phone call she received from Biden’s debate preparation camp ahead of the June 2024 debate against Donald Trump.
“He called me from debate camp … and I could tell something was a little off,” Harris said.
“And I was concerned about- I just, I don’t think he wanted to debate, is my point,” she added.
Harris asserted, “He didn’t want that debate. And you know, it’s like any competition you go in… if you don’t wanna be in the competition, it will absolutely have an impact on your performance. I’m pretty sure he did not want to debate.”
She noted further, “We had conversations about it. I think he got talked into it.”
Harris said she watched the debate with a small team from Los Angeles and noted, “There will be something to clean up, and I expected that. And then, you know, we saw what we all saw.”
In her forthcoming memoir, 107 Days, Harris writes that letting Biden and First Lady Jill Biden decide alone whether he should run again was “recklessness.”
She writes, “If I believed he was incapacitated, I would have said so. As loyal as I am to President Biden, I am more loyal to my country.”
Harris also expresses a sense of personal responsibility, saying she should have spoken up sooner. “When I talk about the recklessness… I’m talking about myself,” she writes.
Harris’ statements echo wider concern among Democrats about the president’s readiness and performance at key moments. They also suggest a stronger assertion of her own leadership identity.
Despite her loyalty to Biden early on, Harris has made clear that change was needed—for the campaign and the party.
She remarked, “I have and had a certain responsibility that I should’ve followed through on.”
As the party moves forward, the moment Harris recognized something was “a little off” may become a defining marker in how insiders view the 2024 campaign’s trajectory.
For now, Harris remains focused on her next steps. She told the BBC earlier this month that her grandnieces will “in their lifetime, for sure,” see a woman elected president—“possibly” her.