A former top advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign was shocked when Harris told “The View” that she wouldn’t have done anything different from President Biden, according to a new book by reporters Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes.
With roughly one month to go until the November election, Harris famously told the liberal hosts that nothing “comes to mind” after they asked her to name something she would’ve done differently than Biden over the past four years.
Harris senior campaign advisor Stephanie Cutter was floored at Harris’ response, according to Allen and Parnes’ new book released this month entitled, “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.”
“What the hell was that?” Cutter recalled thinking to herself. “That’s not what we practiced.”
Former Vice President Harris reportedly shocked one campaign aide with her answer on “The View” about whether she would’ve done anything different from Biden. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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The gaffe became a moment that defined Harris’ campaign and provided ammunition for her opponent.
The Trump campaign immediately seized on the gaffe and started sharing the clip to voters via social media and text message that afternoon.
“It provided the money shot” for Trump’s ad makers,” the book quotes a Harris ally as saying. “And it was her own bad moment.”
“When she gave us the gift of the View interview, we were able to anchor her to the Biden administration in her own words, which is something we were trying to do anyway,” one Trump advisor says in the book.
The Trump campaign used Vice President Harris’ gaffe on “The View” to highlight that her presidency would be no different from President Biden’s. (Fox News)
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The Democratic candidate faced scrutiny throughout her campaign for not breaking with Biden on more issues after she took his spot at the top of the ticket.
Harris’ answer had “done little to erase the impression that her reason for running was one of circumstance,” the book’s authors noted.
The vice president was facing pressure from Biden to remain loyal to him and put “no “daylight” between them during her campaign, the book said.
Vice President Kamala Harris was warned to not create “daylight” between her and President Biden during her presidential campaign, according to the new book, “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” out April 1. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Ahead of her first interview as the Democratic candidate, Harris was prepped by aides with a list of items she could name that made her “proud of her work with Biden,” the book also said.
Harris’ office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.