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Kamala Harris is a "brilliant" choice for Joe Biden's vice president, former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Tuesday.
"I used to think that Kamala Harris was the most ridiculous personnel decision ever," Conway said while appearing on Fox News' Outnumbered. "Looking back, it was pretty brilliant of Joe Biden to choose Kamala Harris because he essentially chose one of three people in the entire country who cannot upstage him.
"I'm scared to death of her as president...this woman has turned the vice presidency of the United States into a no-show job."
The Context
During a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Harris spoke about voter concerns over Biden's health, age and memory and said that she is "ready to serve," if necessary.
Harris said that all of her colleagues are "fully aware" of her capacity to lead.
What We Know
A report from the Department of Justice's special counsel into Biden's handling of classified documents mentioned the president's cognitive health, sparking concern among many.
"Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," the report said adding that Biden "did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended."
However, the White House said this week that Biden will not be taking a cognitive test in his upcoming physical.
"The president proves every day, [in] how he operates and how he thinks, by dealing with world leaders, by making difficult decisions on behalf of the American people, whether it's domestic or it's national security," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
Views
Harris also criticized the special counsel's report calling it "gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate."
"The way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts, and clearly politically motivated, gratuitous," Harris said last week. "And so I will say, that when it comes to the role and responsibility of a prosecutor in a situation like that, we should expect, that there would be a higher level of integrity, than what we saw."
Nikki Haley, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, said the report was "unbelievably disturbing," during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
What's Next
Biden's age (81) and memory are likely to remain a major topic in the 2024 presidential election. A recent poll from NBC News found that 62 percent of Americans believe that Biden's age is a major concern and 14 percent said it was a moderate concern.
Update 2/13/24, 1 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more