Ex-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown describes fear Harris would be 'sidetracked' as 'second banana'
'Her future should be determined by her and her conduct. Period'
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has the potential to be president of the United States but being Joe Biden’s pick for vice president could weigh her down, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown told FOX Business Network's “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.”
Brown, who dated Harris in the 1990s, predicted at the start of 2019 that Biden and Harris would make up the Democratic ticket, but told host Neil Cavuto he had warned Harris about the limitations of the role.
“[In] seventy years of elections in this country involving president and vice president, only one in that whole 70-year cycle moved from the job of vice president to president directly,” he said. “So I was fearful that a talented person like Kamala Harris, who has the potential to be president of this nation -- if she ever got sidetracked by being the second banana to a president, she may not be able to demonstrate those skills. And that's what I was concerned about.”
Brown said he’s “very happy” that Harris joined the ticket but emphasized that her success and her future will not be defined by Joe Biden.
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Then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens during a gun safety forum in Las Vegas. October 2, 2019. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
“Her future should be determined by her and her conduct. Period,” he said. “Without reference to Joe Biden, without reference to Willie Brown or anybody else, she'll make those decisions. I just hope she makes them as appropriately as she did when she served as district attorney of San Francisco, as attorney general and now U.S. senator.”
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Brown went on to describe Harris as "a rare find" and "really very talented."
“This is the first Black woman to rise to the level of a national ticket ... And believe me, the pride that we all have in this moves everything out of the way, including any opinion that I have," he said.
Brown also addressed criticism of Harris' demeanor and what some call an “aggressive” attitude, which he said stems from ongoing perception of gender in American politics.
“Somebody is going to change this nation's mind on the gender question,” he said. “And it might have to be somebody who's really a prosecutor… who's really proven in every way, invested in every way to show all kinds of human qualities that make up people like Ronald Reagan... So we have the opportunity for the gender issue to be directly addressed. And I do believe Senator Harris is prepared to address that agenda and move it further along.”
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