FLASHBACK: Prominent Democrats Doubted Kamala Harris’s Value, Entertained Possibility She Might Be Replaced Less Than a Year Ago

Democrats are celebrating Vice President Kamala Harris’s impending ascension to the top of their party’s ticket now, but less than a year ago, some were publicly expressing doubt about the value she added to it as President Joe Biden’s running mate.

During a sit-down with CNN’s Anderson Cooper last fall, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) raised eyebrows when she declined, three times in a row, to say whether Harris was the best possible partner for Biden in 2024.

Here’s how that conversation went:

COOPER: Is Vice President Kamala Harris the best running mate for this president?

PELOSI: He thinks so, and that’s what matters.

COOPER: Do you think so?

PELOSI: And by the way, she’s very politically astute. I don’t think people give her enough credit. She’s, of course, values-based, consistent with the president’s values and the rest.

And people don’t understand. She’s politically astute. Why would she be vice president if she were not? But when she was running for attorney general in California, she had 6% in the polls – 6% in the polls. And she politically, astutely made her case about why she would be good, did her politics, and became attorney general. So, people shouldn’t underestimate what Kamala Harris brings to the table.

COOPER: But do you think she is the best running mate though?

PELOSI: She’s the Vice President of the United States. People say to me, “Well, why isn’t she doing this or that?” I say, “Because she’s the vice president.” That’s the job description. You don’t do that much. You know, you, you’re a source of strength, inspiration, intellectual resource, and the rest, and you – and I think she’s represented our country very well at home and abroad.

Then just one day later, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) was shown clips of Pelosi’s interview and asked if he thought Harris was the best sidekick for Biden.

After defending Pelosi’s answer, Raskin complained that Democrats “have been laboring under just a deluge of propaganda, disinformation, and criticism by the MAGA right.”

“Congressman, you are doing what Speaker Pelosi did, which is not answering the question,” observed Jake Tapper before repeating the question.

“Is it — well, obviously, she [Pelosi] gave the right answer. That’s President Biden’s choice. And I think she’s an excellent running mate for President Biden. I don’t know what more needs to be said about that, shot back Raskin. “Obviously, people are still trying to throw presidential politics into turmoil… I want to resist the tendency to try to trivialize all politics by making it just about personalities.”

The rest of their back-and-forth unfolded like this, with Raskin even going so far as to suggest that Harris could be discarded through “the process”:

TAPPER: It’s not a — no one’s making it about personalities. I mean, like, it’s just a simple question. Do you think Kamala Harris is the best running mate for President Biden? You have said she’s excellent. That’s farther than Speaker Pelosi went, but do you think she’s the — I’m not trying to throw anything into turmoil.

I actually think it’s a pretty simple question. Do you think Kamala Harris is the best running mate for President Biden, yes or no?

RASKIN: I mean, I don’t know what else I can say, other than she would be an excellent running mate and an excellent vice president.

TAPPER: You could say yes.

RASKIN: I don’t know whether President Biden has named his running mate. We’re going to a convention next summer. It’s a year away from now.

And we’re going to go through that process. So, I mean —

TAPPER: You say, I don’t know what I can say.

The answer is, you could say yes. You could say, yes, I think Kamala Harris is the best vice president and the best running mate for President Biden. That’s the answer you could be giving right now. Yes, she is.

RASKIN: So, I have not seen any public opinion polling.

You might be a stronger vice presidential running mate than her or me or anybody else. I don’t know who else, if you’re talking about the polling. But I will tell you, as a matter of substance and public policy, she’d be an excellent choice. And she and the president have done an excellent job.

Raskin endorsed Harris on Sunday after Biden announced he was dropping out, and Pelosi added her own endorsement Monday afternoon.

Watch above via CNN.