At Essence, Black Democrats support Biden and praise Kamala Harris

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden try to revive In her rocky re-election campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris led a parade of Black Democrats who warned Saturday that the threat of another Donald Trump presidency remains the most important calculation heading into November.

But in more than 20 minutes on stage at the Essence Culture Festival, Harris failed to acknowledge Biden’s stance. Lackluster performance in the debate or calls for the 81-year-old president to abandon his re-election bid. In fact, he barely mentioned Biden not at all, a stark contrast to members of the Congressional Black Caucus who vigorously and repeatedly defended the president by name.

“This is probably the most important election of our lifetime,” Harris said, before making a joke about Trump’s musings about being a dictator, pushing the Supreme Court to the right and promising retaliation against political enemies. “In 122 days, every single one of us has the power to decide what kind of country we want to live in.”

Harris’ appearance at the country’s largest annual celebration of Black culture underscores the difficult task for the White House and the campaign to address questions about the president’s fitness. The dynamic is especially complicated for Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to be elected vice president, and for the Black Democrats who were so instrumental in her and Biden’s election in 2020.

On the one hand, Harris fills the traditional role of loyal lieutenant, a job she played with enthusiasm (and on the fly) in television appearances immediately after Biden’s lackluster debate ended. If Biden ultimately decides to step aside as the presumptive nominee, however, she would be among the favorites, if not the favorite, to carry the Democratic flag against Trump.

Meanwhile, Black leaders and voters who gathered in New Orleans on Saturday walked a fine line between backing Biden and insisting that if he ends his campaign, the party should elevate the barrier-breaking vice president rather than consider governors like Gavin Newsom of California or Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, both of whom are white.

“The goal of a vice president is to be the number two, to be able to step up,” said Glynda Carr, who leads the political action organization Higher Heights, which works to elect more black women. “If this was an all-male ticket, would we be talking about other people with less experience and less qualifications?”

Antjuan Seawright, a black Democratic consultant close to Biden ally Rep. Jim Clyburn, put it more bluntly: “Joe Biden is not going anywhere,” he said. But if he does, “anyone other than Kamala would be committing malpractice and tearing the party apart.”

Seawright maintained that so far, the pressure on Biden to step aside is coming solely from white Democrats, at least publicly. He said that divide is mostly about Black voters’ trust in Biden and their recognition of his record. But he said it’s also about what’s good for the party as a whole, including Black politicians. Risking a contested convention — even one that nominates Harris — could guarantee widespread losses and, in turn, make it less likely than ever to see House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries become speaker of the House or Harris or another Black woman sit in the Oval Office.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and her colleagues echoed some of those sentiments.

“People say Joe Biden is too old. Hell, I’m older than Biden!” the 85-year-old congresswoman said. “It’s not going to be any other Democratic candidate, and we better know that.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, highlighted the power Harris already has.

“We have a black vice president of the United States of America, a sister who came here to be with us today,” she said. “So let’s not kid ourselves. I know who I’m voting for. I’m with the Biden-Harris team, because we will continue to have a sister in the White House who will fight for us and make a difference.”

Waters said Biden’s support for Black communities and contrast to Trump should be enough. He called the former president “a despicable, lying, unscrupulous human being” with a white nationalist agenda. “Who the hell do you think he’s going to go after?” Waters asked, pointing to the support Trump receives from groups like the Proud Boys. “You know he means business.”

In more than a dozen interviews with Essence attendees, opinions varied about Biden’s strength as a candidate and his ability to remain in office for four more years. But there was clear consensus on several points: Only Biden can decide his fate; if he drops out, he should back Harris; and defeating Trump is the top priority.

“I’m with him, absolutely,” said Erica Peterson of New Orleans. “He’s delivered and one debate isn’t going to change my mind… And if it’s not Joe Biden, I’m with her.”

Star Robert, a 37-year-old nurse in New York City, said that if there is a flip, Biden and Democrats could not credibly pick anyone other than Harris, given that the president, the party and voters have already chosen her as second in line. Still, she was skeptical of Harris’ prospects.

“I’m not sure she’s done enough to build the trust of enough voters,” Robert said. “I don’t know if that’s all her fault, I just haven’t seen her enough, we haven’t seen her. I don’t know what her goal is.”

Still, Robert added: “I’m not sure the country is ready for another black president, and if we were ready for a woman, Hillary Clinton would have beaten the clown (Trump) the first time he ran.”

Harris, for her part, responded to that kind of skepticism while carefully avoiding the immediate drama of the campaign.

“Ambition is a good thing. We don’t have to be sneaky,” she said of being a woman of color in powerful circles. “People in your life will tell you it’s not your time. It’s not your turn. No one like you has ever done it before… I like to say I eat a ‘no’ for breakfast.”