In a startling move, The New York Times calls for Vice President Kamala Harris to be removed from the 2024 ticket, casting a shadow over her nascent campaign and igniting fierce debates within the Democratic Party about electability and unity as they brace for a showdown against Donald Trump.
In a significant setback for the nascent Harris campaign, the left-leaning media giant The New York Times (NYT) has called for Vice President Kamala Harris to be removed from the 2024 ticket due to “profound concerns” about her electability.
This push to oust the nation’s first Black vice president came shortly after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election in 2024, potentially jeopardizing Democratic turnout in November.
The NYT editorial board initially offered some praise for Biden:
"By agreeing to step down when his term ends in January, he is greatly increasing the chance that his party is able to protect the nation from the dangers of returning Donald Trump to the presidency."
Then, the board delivered a critical blow:
"Choosing Ms. Harris would be a reasonable path for Democrats to take; she has been Mr. Biden’s running mate, and while no votes were cast for her as a presidential candidate in primaries, the president’s voters expected her to be on the ticket in November.
Nonetheless, party delegates should have a voice in a decision of this consequence. There are other qualified Democrats who could take on Mr. Trump and win, and picking a candidate without a real contest is how the party got into a position of anointing a standard-bearer that large majorities of Democrats and independents had profound concerns about. While the hour is late, there is still time to put leading candidates through a process of public scrutiny before the party’s nominating convention begins on Aug. 19, to inform the choice of a nominee and to build public support."
The NYT's immediate push to demote Harris following Biden’s exit sheds light on why many Black politicians were eager to maintain the Biden-Harris ticket for 2024. As reported by The Hill on July 8:
"Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are throwing their support behind President Biden as a growing number of Democrats call for him to suspend his 2024 campaign."
On Sunday, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) issued a sharp rebuttal of those calling for Biden to step aside:
“Any ‘leader’ calling for President Biden to drop out needs to get their priorities straight and stop undermining this incredible actual leader who has delivered real results for our country,” Wilson said in a statement. “And when you contrast that with a dangerous figure like Donald Trump pushing a radical agenda to be dictator on day one and destroy our democracy, we must do everything in our power to defeat him; Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is the ticket to do just that.”
However, the NYT's stance poses a significant risk to the Democrats' diverse coalition. Black Americans accounted for approximately 11.5 percent of the electorate in 2020 and delivered one in five of Biden's votes.
President Donald Trump has been actively courting the Black electorate, making some inroads among Black men, partly because many Black Americans recognize that Democratic leaders are also courting Latino migrants in major cities, including Chicago and New York.
Yet, Harris’s poor poll ratings suggest she may struggle against Trump.
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