Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Monday he has his “full support” in Vice President Harris’ run for president, and praised President Biden for putting “country first” and dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
“I’m very pleased to give my full support to the vice president. I’ve watched her work as a prosecutor, as attorney general, as a senator and as vice president,” Schiff said on NBC News’ “Today” show. “I’m very excited to work with her as president. I haven’t seen this kind of excitement in the Democratic Party in a long time. People are really energized.”
Schiff was one of several Democrats who quickly endorsed Harris, after Biden endorsed her as the party’s nominee shortly after dropping out of the race.
Schiff, who is running for the California Senate seat, was one of the most prominent Democrats to publicly urge Biden to resign in recent weeks after his poor performance in last month’s debate with former President Trump, during which Biden frequently paused and appeared to lose his train of thought, raising concerns about his mental capacity and age.
At 81, Biden is the oldest serving US president and has faced repeated criticism about his age and mental fitness to do the job.
“It’s been tough for all of us, frankly, because we respect Joe Biden. And more than that, we have a lot of love for Joe Biden. He’s a great, fine human being,” Schiff said Monday.
“I used my own judgment to encourage the president to think about what he thought was the right direction for the country. And I don’t think Joe Biden was going to succumb to intimidation or coercion or anything like that. He was going to make a decision when he was ready to make a decision, and once again he did what he has always done throughout his long career – put the country first,” he added.
Asked how he justified publicly urging Biden to drop out of the race but not calling for him to resign, Schiff said: “My concern was whether Biden could win, whether he could pursue his case against Donald Trump.”
“I have every confidence in his ability to be president and to continue the great job that he’s doing,” he continued.
