After Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election, she and her allies refused to accept responsibility and instead
blamed former FBI director James Comey, Russian President Vladimir Putin, former President Barack Obama, Wikileaks, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), supposed sexism, and, of course, “millions of white people.”
Having just lost the 2024 election to President Donald Trump by an even greater margin, Kamala Harris, her campaign, and allied Democrats are similarly looking for someone or something else to blame.
Rather than admit that Harris ran a bad campaign with a weak and amorphous message or acknowledge that her radicalism, lack of transparency, alienation of key voter blocs, difficulties communicating, disenfranchisement of Democratic primary voters, prioritization of vibes over policy, complicity in Biden’s failures, and collusion with a dishonest media likely turned off voters — or that Trump simply made the better pitch to Americans — they have instead settled on a scapegoat: President Joe Biden, the man they spent years pretending was fit for office then unceremoniously kicked to the curb.
CNN’s senior White House correspondent Min Jung Lee
told Wolf Blitzer Wednesday, “Obviously there will be a lot of soul-searching and a lot of questions in the coming days about what, if anything, could Democrats and the Harris campaign have done differently. One thing we are clearly already starting to see take place is finger-pointing and the blame game, and a lot of that is going to be directed at President Biden.”
‘The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden.’
Lee added that the efforts to blame Biden are “even coming from some folks inside of the Harris campaign. One senior official I just talked to said, ‘Biden will hold a lot of blame for it,’ and frankly, they said, ‘He should.'”
Before deleting his X account Wednesday, David Plouffe, senior adviser to the Harris campaign, insinuated that Biden left Harris in a lurch,
writing, “We dug out of a deep hole but not enough. A devastating loss.”
Biden — who consistently polled better than Harris — did the vice president no favors by
calling millions of Trump supporters “garbage,” letting the vice president humiliate herself during Hurricane Helene, and donning a Trump 2024 hat after a 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania. However, Harris’ allies appear to be primarily upset over Biden’s decision to run in the first place, having signaled years earlier he would only serve one term.
Several high-ranking Democrats, including three Harris campaign advisers,
told the Associated Press that Biden should have thrown in the towel earlier.
Those complaining on the condition of anonymity apparently believe that had Biden not waited until his ejection from the race through what some have
called a “coup,” Harris or some other Democratic candidate would have been afforded more than 107 days to fabricate a winning personality and agenda.
“The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden,” said failed Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who endorsed Harris. “If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place.”
Matt Bennett, executive vice president of the Democrat-supporting think tank Third Way, said, “Harris was dealt a really bad hand. Some of it was Biden’s making and some maybe not.”
“He shouldn’t have run,” Jim Manley, top aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
told Politico. “This is not time to pull punches or be concerned about anyone’s feelings. He and his staff have done an enormous amount of damage to this country.”
Democratic strategist Mark Longabaugh similarly suggested that “Biden should have stepped aside earlier and let the party put together a longer game plan.”
Democrats appear reluctant to blame Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), and the other Democrats who ostensibly forced Harris’ more popular boss out of the race.
Biden
reportedly called Trump Wednesday to congratulate him on his historic victory and invited him to the White House.
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