Social media users on Friday mocked an anonymous memo advocating for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace President Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee’s top pick.
The Google document, titled “Freeing Oneself from the Burden of the Past: The Case of Kamala,” Reportedly Distributed The 81-year-old president’s disastrous performance in a debate with former President Donald Trump drew criticism from major Democratic donors, political activists and coalition groups.
“There’s only one way out of this mess, and that’s Kamala.” The document states:“Kamala Harris has the strongest claim to Democratic orthodoxy. She is the only candidate who can take control now, not in late August with less than three months to go. She has a huge electoral advantage that is widely underestimated. She can win.”
“She is not the best option; she is the only realistic option to win,” the memo’s authors argue.
The memo’s title references one of the vice president’s most infamous “word salad” remarks.
The document was allegedly written by a “senior official within the Democratic political apparatus” who has no personal or professional ties to Harris.
“We just want to defeat Trump,” the authors said. “We are writing in our personal capacity because we believe we need to cut through the confusion, determine which options are real and which are fantasy, and make the case for the only realistic path forward. The stakes are too high and there is nothing else we can do.”
At one point, the authors paint a scenario in which the 59-year-old Harris “comes out of the convention riding high with a big boost in the polls” and then “defeats a rambling and extreme Trump in the debates.”
“She took office with overwhelming margins and leads a Democratic House and Senate that can reform the filibuster to enact reproductive freedom, a winning issue she campaigned on for months,” the memo said.
Many X users were not convinced by the memo.
“That’s when I can only imagine the marijuana kicked in,” tweeted Noah Rothman, a senior writer at National Review, referring to the theory that Harris could beat Trump in the debate and go on to win in November.
“The positive reactions continue right up to the point where she’s expected to give a lengthy, extemporaneous speech and the whole country says in unison, ‘Yeah, that’s right,'” he added.
Rothman’s claims were echoed by many on social media platforms, with one person claiming it was “pure fantasy” to believe that “the debater who placed last in the 2020 Democratic primary would win on the strength of his debate performance.”
One user likened the lengthy document to a “rejected White House screenplay,” while several others described it as “fan fiction” bordering on “parody.”
Another user suggested “Like it or not, Kamala 2024” as a potential slogan for Harris’ presidential campaign, based on the document.
“Oh nothing makes me feel more confident about the state of our country than seeing our next leader introduced in a shared document,” said one concerned X-user.
Biden has insisted he has no plans to withdraw from the race, despite several polls showing he is at risk of losing to Trump after a poor performance in last month’s debate.
