"The Joe Biden I know": Harris delivers fiery defense of Biden
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Anderson Cooper and Kamala Harris speak after the debate. Photo: CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris said that President Biden had a "slow start" during the first presidential debate but a "strong finish." She delivered an impassioned defense of the president after his shaky performance.
Why it matters: Harris argued that Biden's 90-minute debate performance should not overshadow his "three and a half years of performance," as she sought to pivot to what's at stake in November.
Driving the news: "People can debate on style points, but ultimately, this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance and the contrast is clear," Harris said during a CNN interview.
- She slammed former President Trump for repeatedly lying during the debate, failing to disavow the Jan. 6 attack and refusing to commit to accepting the election results.
Harris' defense of the president comes as many in her own party are in panic-mode over Biden's debate performance.
- "The Joe Biden that I worked with every day is someone who, as I have said, has performed in a way that has been about bringing people into the Oval Office, Republicans and Democrats, to compromise in a way that is extraordinary these days," she said.
- She also connected the "Joe Biden I know" to his record in office, citing his strengthening of NATO and creation of manufacturing jobs.
What she's saying: "It was a slow start, that's obvious to everyone," Harris told CNN, before pivoting: "I'm talking about the choice in November."
- "I'm talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime. And do we want to to look at what November will bring and go on a course for America that is about a destruction of democracy?"
In a separate interview on MSNBC, she said: "What we had in Joe Biden is someone who wanted to have a debate based on facts, based on truth and in Donald Trump we have what we have come to expect, which is someone who will push lies and distract from the reality of the damage he has created and continues to create in our country."
Go deeper: Biden blunders dominate combative debate with Trump
