Harris says she is ‘ready to serve’ as questions about Biden health swirl

White House

Harris was asked by a reporter about whether she needs to convince voters that she is ready to serve given their worries about the age of the commander-in-chief, who is eighty-one years old.

Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters last week that she is “ready to serve” as questions swirl about the health and cognitive status of President Joe Biden.

Harris was asked by a reporter about whether she needs to convince voters that she is ready to serve given their worries about the age of the commander-in-chief, who is eighty-one years old. Harris said that everyone who sees her “walks away fully aware of my capacity to lead.”

“I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that,” replied Harris, who is fifty-nine years old.

The response came days before a special counsel report from the Justice Department asserted that Biden had poor memory, which left investigators with doubt about his ability to stand trial. “Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the document said.

Biden “appeared to have significant limitations” to his memory both during recorded interviews with his ghostwriter in 2017 and during interviews with investigators in 2023. Even the recorded conversations with the ghostwriter were “often painfully slow,” with Biden “struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.”

Many have speculated that Biden will step down before the election, especially as the press conference in which he addressed the report was marked by verbal incoherence. Some 86% of Americans believe that Biden is too old to serve another term in the Oval Office, according to a survey from Ipsos, which also showed that 59% believe both he and former President Donald Trump, his apparent rival in the general election, are each too elderly for the position.

Even as voters remain concerned about the issue of age as they consider casting their ballots for Biden this fall, Harris has been plagued by a consistent likability problem during her tenure. The former California lawmaker is viewed negatively by 53% of voters, according to a survey from NBC News, in which only 10% said they had a “very positive” view of her.