VP Harris says she is ready to be president ‘if necessary’

While abroad to represent the Biden administration at summits in Southeast Asia, Vice President Kamala Harris told CBS News she would be ready to step in as president if needed while dismissing concerns about President Joe Biden’s age. 

“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,” Harris said in an interview with CBS News “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan set to air in full on Sunday. 

After saying she is prepared to be commander in chief “if necessary,” the vice president added that Biden “is going to be fine.”

“We will win reelection,” Harris said. “There’s too much at stake and the American people know it.”

The comments mirror those she made in an interview with the Associated Press this week amid recent polling that continues to show the Democratic incumbent’s age is a significant concern for voters on both sides of the aisle. 

A CNN-SSRS poll released on Thursday found 56% of Democratic-leaning voters said they are “seriously concerned” about Biden’s age impacting his level of physical and mental competence, with 60% saying the same about it impacting his ability to win in 2024 if he is the party’s nominee. 

An AP-NORC poll released last week found more than three-fourths of Americans said Biden was too old to serve another four years as president while 69% of Democrats said the same thing. 

Biden, 80, is the oldest sitting U.S. president and would be 86 at the end of a second term. 

“I see how his ability to understand issues and weave through complex issues in a way that no one else can, to make smart and important decisions on behalf of the American people have played out,” Harris told the Associated Press on the topic. 

Harris has been a key voice for the Biden administration on hot button issues such as abortion and gun rights. 

Republicans have focused many attacks on her on the campaign trail, often making the case that those voting for Biden are really voting for Harris. 

“A vote for President Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris,” former Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said on Fox News in July.