Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator for CNN, on Thursday said special counsel Robert Hur’s questioning of Joe Biden’s mental fitness in his report on the president’s retention of classified documents had now “firmly shifted the conversation even further towards” Vice President Kamala Harris.
Hur rejected recommending criminal charges against Biden in his report, citing the president’s “significantly limited” memory as one reason. Biden has since slammed the claim.
But it means Harris is now “squarely an issue in this election,” Jennings told CNN’s Abby Phillip in a video shared online by Mediaite.
“The principle question of the day is, did anything that happened today in this document or this [Biden] press conference help or hurt this number, that three-quarters of the American people before today had moderate or significant concerns about the president’s mental acuity and fitness for this office?” noted Jennings, a former aide to President George W. Bush.
He argued that number “certainly didn’t get any better” and in fact “it probably got worse” and suggested there “aren’t too many Americans who are gonna look at this and say, ‘This guy is up to serving for five more years as president of the United States.’”
“I think Vice President Harris became squarely an issue in this election today. She already was getting there, and now it’s even more important,” he added.
Four-times-indicted Trump remains the clear Republican front-runner and likely candidate to take on Biden in November in what would be a rematch of the 2020 election, which Trump still refuses to admit he lost.
Per FiveThirtyEight.com, Harris’ approval rating stands at 37.5% and disapproval is around 53.5%. The same website puts Biden’s approval at 38.7% and disapproval at 55.7%.
Harris has faced years of attacks from the right over their questioning of her ability to serve as commander-in-chief should anything happen to Biden.
She has previously dismissed concerns about the president’s health but has also sought to reassure voters that she’d be more than capable of stepping up if needed.
Asked by CBS’ Margaret Brennan in September about her preparedness for taking on the top role, Harris said she was ready “if necessary” but insisted Biden “is going to be fine.”
“Let me tell you something: I work with Joe Biden every day,” Harris added at the time. “The work that under Joe Biden’s leadership our administration has accomplished is transformative. I think the American people most of all, want a leader who actually gets things done.”
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