WASHINGTON (AP) – Joe Biden’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but history will likely remember Kamala Harris’ resounding defeat as his loss too.
As Democrats pick up the pieces following President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory, some of the vice president’s backers are expressing frustration that Biden’s decision to seek re-election until this summer – despite longstanding voter concerns about his age and unease about post-pandemic inflation as well as the United States (US)-Mexico border – all but sealed his party’s loss of the White House.
“The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden,” said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 for the Democratic nomination and endorsed Harris’ unsuccessful run. “If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place.”
Biden will leave office after leading the US out of the worst pandemic in a century and passing a USD1-trillion infrastructure bill that will impact communities for years to come.
But having run four years ago against Trump to “restore the soul of the country”, Biden will make way after just one term for his immediate predecessor, who overcame two impeachments, a felony conviction and an insurrection launched by his supporters.
“Maybe in 20 or 30 years, history will remember Biden for some of these achievements,” said co-director of the Centre for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University Thom Reilly.
Some high-ranking Democrats, including three advisers to the Harris campaign, expressed deep frustration with Biden for failing to recognise earlier in the election cycle that he was not up to the challenge.
The advisers spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly.
