In her new memoir 107 Days, Kamala Harris recounts a tense exchange with Joe Biden on the eve of her debate with Donald Trump. While she was preparing in a Philadelphia hotel room, Biden called to offer a perfunctory wish of luck. Almost immediately, though, the conversation turned sour.
Biden told Harris he’d heard rumors—originating from his brother—that she had been saying negative things about him. He raised concerns that political power brokers in Philadelphia might be distancing themselves, allegedly due to her public remarks. Harris says she wasn’t aware of these criticisms and was startled that such claims were being floated just before a major debate.
What followed, she writes, were distractions: Biden began discussing his own prior performances in debates, and insisted a poor showing earlier in June hadn’t damaged his standing with voters. Harris admits she found the timing and tone hurtful, writing that she felt “angry and disappointed” that a moment when she needed focus had become overshadowed by internal friction.
According to Harris, her husband Doug Emhoff noticed her distress and advised her to let it go in order to stay centered for the impending debate.