Jamie Raskin Infuriatingly Dodges Jake Tapper Question On Kamala Harris As VP

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) on Thursday repeatedly evaded Jake Tapper’s question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris is the best running mate for President Joe Biden in 2024. (Watch the video below.)

The lawmaker’s verbal dance came on the heels of another prominent Democrat, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), giving a noncommittal response on Harris.

Tapper asked the question directly on CNN’s “The Lead”: “Do you think Vice President Kamala Harris is the best running mate for President Biden?”

And the dodge was on. Raskin pivoted to the “deluge of propaganda” from the MAGA right.

Tapper accused Raskin of employing Pelosi’s strategy of “not answering the question.” (The former speaker praised Harris but did not directly state she was the best choice.) Again, Tapper asked the same question. Raskin said Harris “is an excellent running mate for President Biden” but stopped short of his own endorsement. He praised the president and Harris’ record and said he didn’t want to make the issue “about personalities.”

Tapper was undeterred.

“No one’s making it about personalities. I mean, like, it’s just a simple question,” the anchor said. “Do you think Kamala Harris is the best running mate for President Biden? You have said she’s excellent. That’s farther than Speaker Pelosi went, but do you think she’s the — I’m not trying to throw anything into turmoil. I actually think it’s a pretty simple question. Do you think Kamala Harris is the best running mate for President Biden, yes or no?”

“I mean, I don’t know what else I can say,” Raskin replied.

“You could say yes,” Tapper snapped back.

Here’s more of the exchange:

RASKIN: I don’t know whether President Biden has named his running mate. We’re going to a convention next summer. It’s ... a year away from now. And we’re going to go through that process.

TAPPER: You say, I don’t know what I can say. The answer is, you could say yes. You could say, yes, I think Kamala Harris is the best vice president and the best running mate for President Biden. That’s the answer you could be giving right now. Yes, she is.

RASKIN: So, I have not seen any public opinion polling. You might be a stronger vice presidential running mate than her or me or anybody else. I don’t know who else, if you’re talking about the polling. But I will tell you, as a matter of substance and public policy, she’d be an excellent choice. And she and the president have done an excellent job.

Harris, a frequent target of the right, does not appear to be getting a resounding vote of confidence from voters in her own party.

According to a CBS News/YouGov poll, Democratic voters are considerably less “enthusiastic” about Harris than they were in 2020.

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