Joe Biden was aboard Air Force One with civil rights leaders last week when he made a bizarre comment about being “replaced” by Kamala Harris as his nominee.
“Kamala and I talked,” Biden said as the sounds of cable news pundits trying to predict Harris’ running mate played in the background. “I told her she could pick me.”
After a brief moment of silence, Biden admitted he was joking.
The moment of levity came ahead of Biden’s first public appearance since dropping out of the race. According to The Washington Post.
When he landed in Austin, Texas, Biden was greeted with thunderous applause as he re-emerged after what many called a career-ending chain of events.
Harris is now the heir apparent, a fact Biden appears to have calmly accepted despite his initial doubts.
Joe Biden is reportedly already joking about being ‘replaced’ by Kamala Harris as the candidate
Harris, seen here in Houston on Thursday, is now the heir apparent, a fact Biden has seemingly accepted in stride despite initially showing doubts.
“I felt no remorse at all,” said Al Sharpton, who was on board the plane at the time.
“He’s made his decision and he’s at peace with it,” Sharpton continued. “I felt like he was a man at peace with his current situation and trying to move forward.”
“He’s thinking about it,” added National Urban League chief Marc Morial. who accompanied Biden all day on Monday.
‘‘He’s in a state of reflection,’ he continued.
‘It is very natural and very human to be in such a reflective mood after such a long and unique career.
“Try to think of who has had a career of such length and breadth,” he continued, referencing how the politician assumed his seat on the New Castle County Council in Delaware in 1970.
“I have a hard time thinking of anyone else because he was elected so young,” he said.
“Kamala and I talked,” Biden reportedly said Monday as analysts on a television aboard Air Force One argued over who Harris would choose as her running mate. “I told her she could pick me.”
The Washington Post spoke to several people who were on board the plane at the time, including civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who was seated to Biden’s right. He is seen here in Houston shortly afterward with Harris, against whom Biden has held no grudge, he said.
“He’s reflecting,” added National Urban League chief Marc Morial, who was with Biden all day Monday. “He’s in a reflective mood.” Both marveled at his ability to crack jokes after being essentially replaced.
That race will inevitably come to an end in six months, when a new candidate takes the reins, while Biden continues to try to come to terms with the situation.
People close to the president told the Post that the process has been surprisingly expedited, with Democrats backing Harris to challenge Trump and Biden himself offering his official endorsement.
Big names like the Obamas have followed suit, and the vice president’s burgeoning campaign is quickly gaining momentum.
This week, CBS News obtained a firsthand account from Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who was there when Air Force One landed in his city on Monday.
He was the third person to greet Biden on the tarmac, having become weeks earlier the first sitting Democrat to plead with him to drop his re-election bid.
“Thanks for suggesting that,” Biden reportedly told him, in a noncombative tone, as Doggett thanked him for stepping aside.
Representative James E. Clyburn, one of Biden’s biggest political allies, also spoke favorably of how the commander in chief is faring and revealed that the 81-year-old is already looking ahead.
Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett recalled this week how, when greeting Biden on Monday, the president thanked him, after the congressman earlier this week became the first sitting Democrat to call on him to drop out of the race.
Representative James E. Clyburn, one of Biden’s biggest political allies, also spoke favorably of how the commander in chief is faring, revealing that the 81-year-old is already looking ahead.
“I was particularly focused on what path to take from here,” the South Carolina representative told The Post of Biden’s demeanor Monday on Air Force One.
“Martin Luther King’s last book was Where Do We Go from Here? Chaos or Community? That’s pretty much where we’re at today,” he continued.
“Are we going to have chaos in the future or community in the future? That’s what the president is most worried about.”
“I think he’s looking at these six months as a decision to prove his legacy by winning this election and being able to finish the things he started,” Sharpton added.
“I definitely think he sees himself in historical terms now, rather than in tomorrow’s paper or tonight’s TV show.”
As of this writing, there are 96 days until the election. As of Thursday, Harris (who is not yet the official Democratic nominee) had yet to announce a running mate.
