Like Richard Nixon and Al Gore before her, Vice President Kamala Harris has been placed in the awkward position of having to preside over the certification of her own defeat— but there’s still a way around it.
Jamal Simmons, a former Harris spokesperson and Democratic National Committee official, drew double-takes Sunday by suggesting that President Biden step down and allow Ms. Harris to succeed him before she leads the Jan. 6 congressional counting of the electoral votes.
“Joe Biden’s been a phenomenal president. He’s lived up to so many of the promises he’s made. There’s one promise left that he could fulfill, being a transitional figure,” Mr. Simmons said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He could resign the presidency in the next 30 days, make Kamala Harris the president of the United States.”
His audacious proposal left the other panelists speechless — almost.
“Whoa,” said Republican strategist Scott Jennings. “Wow,” said CNN host Dana Bash.
Mr. Simmons was undeterred, saying the move would take Ms. Harris out of a difficult situation and help the Democratic Party dominate the news cycle before Jan. 20, the date of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“It would absolve her from having to oversee the Jan. 6 transition, right, of her own defeat,” Mr. Simmons said. “And it would make sure that — it would dominate the news at a point where Democrats have to learn drama and transparency and doing things that the public wants to see.”
He added: “This is the moment for us to change the entire perspective of how Democrats operate.”
Harris advisor Jamal Simmons actually says the meme live on CNN, advocating for Joe Biden to resign the presidency so Kamala Harris can become the first female president for a matter of weeks. Good riddance to these idiots. pic.twitter.com/5UNzKDeZFQ
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 10, 2024
There was speculation before the Nov. 5 election that Mr. Biden might step down to allow Ms. Harris to run as the sitting president, but Mr. Simmons may be the first to tout the post-election advantages of making her the 47th president.
Ms. Harris lost both the popular and electoral vote last week to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Simmons said that the move “would give Kamala Harris the chance to be the 47th President of the United States of America. It would disrupt all of Donald Trump’s paraphernalia, right? He would have to rebrand everything.”
Mr. Jennings quipped that “Jamal’s out here right writing an extra season of ‘House of Cards,’” referring to the Netflix political thriller.
The vice president also serves as president of the Senate and oversees the counting of Electoral College votes after each presidential election.
Republican Nixon, who was vice president to President Dwight Eisenhower, presided over the certification following his 1960 loss to Democrat John F. Kennedy, as did Democrat Al Gore after losing in 2000 to Republican George W. Bush.
Mr. Simmons, a longtime Democratic operative, previously worked as DNC deputy communications director as well as communications director for Ms. Harris in her role as vice president.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.