Tense moment Kamala Harris snaps at ABC journalist over Biden question

Former US presidential candidate Kamala Harris has clashed with an ABC journalist over Joe Biden’s apparent cognitive decline.

Australian journalist Sarah Ferguson shared the tense exchange with Harris during a half-hour long interview for the ABC’s nightly current affairs program 7.30 aired on Wednesday night.

The interview took place in London, where the former Vice President was promoting her memoir, 107 Days – a reference to her unusually short campaign.

Harris launched her run for the White House in July 2024 after former President Biden withdrew his own bid amid concerns about his perceived cognitive decline .  

Ferguson grilled Harris on her refusal to link Biden’s late withdrawal and her own failed campaign to win office. 

‘But wasn’t Joe Biden then, to put it on him, wasn’t his refusal to recognise his own frailties the reason that you faced a nearly impossible task?’ Ferguson asked.

Harris began to explain she was up against a range of factors including Donald Trump ‘misrepresenting his intentions to the American people’ when Ferguson spoke up.

‘I want to interrupt you because that is a world class pivot,’ Ferguson said.

The ABC host then tried to steer the discussion back to what she had originally asked. 

‘The question that I asked you is about Joe Biden’s failure to recognise his own frailties and what that did to you.

‘The question is about Joe Biden – are you still reluctant to criticise the former president?’

Harris asked the journalist to clarify her question before insisting Biden ‘was not frail as President of the United States’. 

‘But he had frailties, we all saw the debate,’ Ferguson said.

Harris responded that Biden had endured a brutal travel schedule in the lead up to the debate, while campaigning for re-election and running the country, and that she never doubted his capacity as president. 

The interview continued with Ferguson later saying it was ‘clear from the outside’ that America seemed to be undergoing an ‘authoritarian revolution’ under Trump. 

The comment sparked immediate backlash online, with viewers of the program accusing Ferguson and the public broadcaster of bias. 

‘Yet again, completely unacceptable bias by (the ABC),’ one viewer posted on X. 

However, it’s a point the former Vice President has herself made in the past. 

In a recent interview with the BBC she claimed her warnings Trump would behave like a fascist and an authoritarian had been proven correct. 

‘He said he would weaponise the Department of Justice – and he has done exactly that,’ she told the broadcaster. 

Pressed further on Biden’s mental state by the ABC, Harris insisted Biden had the ‘capacity’ to serve as president but admitted she had ‘concerns’ about his ability to endure the campaign.  

Ferguson held to the line of questioning, adding it was difficult to expect there would not be a ‘problem long term’ based on his debate performance.

‘I talked about that in the book,’ Harris replied, adding that Biden had been labouring under a demanding travel schedule at the time.

‘I talked about it extensively in the book. I’m not shying away from that,’ she said.

Harris also acknowledged it was ‘reckless’ for her not to have talked Biden out of running for a second term, concluding it was a mistake. 

‘I asked myself: Was it grace or was it recklessness on my part? And I think it was reckless,’ she said 

Harris also refused to be drawn when asked how she felt about Biden’s insistence he would have won office if he had finished his campaign. 

‘Does it make you angry that former president Biden still says he would have won?’ Ferguson asked. 

Harris replied tersely: ‘I am focused on the present.’

As for what the future may hold, Harris refused to rule out running for a second term. 

Asked if she believed American voters had an ‘appetite’ for a Harris presidency despite losing her earlier bid, she replied: ‘We will see, if I choose to run.’