President Joe Biden said that Vice President Kamala Harris would “cut her own path” as president during a Harris campaign event in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Biden, who dropped out of the presidential election and backed Harris as his replacement on July 21, told supporters at Philadelphia’s Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 Training Center that he was “loyal” to former President Barack Obama while serving as vice president but had made the presidency his own after being elected in 2020.
The president said that Harris had also served as a loyal vice president and predicted that she would offer a “fresh and new” perspective to the office if she defeats former President Donald Trump, who he argued was “totally dishonest” and pushing an “old and failed” perspective.
“Every president has to cut their own path,” Biden said. “That’s what I did. I was loyal to Barack Obama, but I cut my own path as president. That’s what Kamala’s going to do. She’s been loyal so far, but she’s going to cut her own path.”
“Kamala will take the country in her own direction,” he continued. “And that’s one of the most important differences in this election. Kamala’s perspective on our problems will be fresh and new. Donald Trump’s perspective is old and failed and, quite frankly, thoroughly [and] totally dishonest.”
In an email to Newsweek, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said that “everyone knows Biden hates Kamala after she led a coup that resulted in him pulling out of the race.”
“The thing is that Kamala and Biden are the same person with the same record of failure,” Cheung added.
The Trump campaign has been heavily pushing the notion that Harris is indistinguishable from Biden, who has a low approval rating and was trailing Trump in the polls when he dropped out. Trump said that Harris “is Biden” during their presidential debate on September 10.
“Clearly, I am not Joe Biden,” Harris said in response to Trump during the debate. “And I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.”
Harris faced criticism for saying during an October 8 interview on The View that “not a thing comes to mind” in response to a question about how she might govern differently than Biden.
The vice president said later during the interview that “one of the differences” between herself and Biden was that she planned to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet if elected in November.
Biden’s campaigning for Harris in swing states including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin was called a “self-inflicted error” by a Trump campaign official in previous comments to Newsweek.
“More Biden is good for us,” the official said. “From our perspective, we’ve got them right where we want them.”
Political pundit and author Steve Schier also told Newsweek that Biden’s “increased public presence complicates and muddles Harris’ messaging and attempts by her to ‘turn the page'” on Trump and to “suggest that she is ‘a fresh start.'”
President Joe Biden is pictured during the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee Autumn Dinner in Philadelphia on October 15. Biden said on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris would “cut her own path” if elected to succeed him in November.
Update 10/15/24, 10:50 p.m.: This article was updated with comment from Cheung.
