Kamala Harris Reveals Tensions With Biden’s Team in 107 Days

Kamala Harris’s new book 107 Days, set for release on September 23, offers a striking account of her path from vice president to presidential nominee. The memoir opens in July 2024, when Joe Biden announced he would step aside. Harris recounts not only the chaos that followed but also the deep mistrust she faced from Biden’s inner circle.

She explains how loyalty to Biden was often misread as ambition. Many of her successes were treated as threats. Instead of promoting her record, advisers around Biden seemed more comfortable letting Fox News attacks stand. Smears about her laugh, tone, and career went largely unanswered. Her chief of staff, Lorraine Voles, had to insist that Harris be given speaking roles at official events, fighting perceptions that she should remain in the background.

The Reckless Decision to Run Again

Harris recalls how the choice to let Biden decide alone whether to run for reelection shaped the campaign. She writes that staff repeated the phrase “It’s Joe and Jill’s decision” like a mantra, even when the stakes demanded more than personal choice. Harris describes this as reckless.

She explains why she could not intervene. Any suggestion that Biden should step aside would have been read as self-serving or disloyal. Harris believed Biden would see it as naked ambition, even if her true concern was protecting the country from Donald Trump’s return. By her account, this dynamic left Democrats tied to a candidate struggling under the weight of age, travel demands, and faltering public perception.

“On this day there was a new energy in the room as I walked onto the stage. A Black woman was slated to be the Democratic nominee for president. It was us. And everyone there understood what it meant: that this would be a journey of both joy and pain. I was in a room full of people with whom, because of our shared experience, certain words did not need to be said. There is an emotion that comes from being in a place where people see you, support you, know you. The kindness and the love in that room penetrated the armor I usually wore, armor I’d need to put back on as soon as I left that room.” — Kamala Harris, 107 Days

Fallout from Internal Rivalries

As Harris’s popularity grew, Biden’s advisers reportedly grew anxious. Polls showing her strength only deepened the divide. She recalls that instead of support, the White House seemed content to let negative narratives about her take hold. In her view, some aides even worked to push her down further.

The tension peaked when she delivered a powerful speech in Selma, Alabama, about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Harris condemned Hamas, called for hostages to be freed, and demanded greater access for aid. The speech had been vetted and approved by the White House and the National Security Council. It went viral. The response inside the West Wing, however, was anger that she had delivered it too effectively.

Final thoughts

Harris argues that her visible success should have reassured voters about Biden’s judgment in choosing her. Instead, those around him treated her as a rival to be contained. The memoir makes clear that loyalty was never the issue. The problem was a team unwilling to accept that a capable Black woman could excel without undermining the man at the top. Harris’s candid account shows how ego, mistrust, and miscalculation helped shape a historic and painful election season.