Biden boosts legacy -- and Harris -- with prisoner swap

US President Joe Biden has burnished his legacy by securing a huge prisoner swap deal with Russia -- and shone some reflected glory on Kamala Harris's election hopes.

In a powerful piece of political theater, Biden and Harris hugged reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other American prisoners as they arrived back on US soil at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.

For Biden, the multinational swap was a historic foreign policy win to savor, after his traumatic withdrawal from the 2024 White House race rendered him a lame-duck president.

But it was also a chance to boost Harris, as he tries to ensure that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee defeats his nemesis Donald Trump in November.

"Joe Biden said he was going to do everything he could to help Kamala Harris get elected. Putting her in that photo op at Air Base Andrews was a part of that," Frank Sesno, a professor at George Washington University and former White House correspondent, told AFP.

"It was one of the more tangible things he could do, to show her at his side, part of the decision making, part of the winning team."

- 'Stuck with me' -

The emotional welcoming ceremony was certainly a triumphant moment for Biden, as he eyes a place in the history books beyond his remaining six months in the Oval Office.

The 81-year-old president insisted that he wasn't rushing to seal a legacy.

Asked on the tarmac late Thursday how important it was to him to get the exchange done knowing he would not seek a second term, he replied that it had "nothing to do" with that.

"I'd still get it done even if I was seeking a second term. You're stuck with me as president for a while, kid," said Biden.

Notably, Harris let her boss have his time in the limelight. She deferred to him and praised his leadership and wisdom in her remarks at the air base.

But her very presence rammed home the message the White House had pushed all day -- the vice president was part of this victory.

Like Biden, she has been a staunch backer of Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Asked what role Harris had played in the swap, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday that she was "very much a core member of the team that helped make this happen."

This included meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a "timely moment" earlier this year when Biden was trying to persuade him to free a Russian assassin who was key to the deal.

- 'Piece of the sunshine' -

Then there was the call that Harris placed on Thursday to the wife of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny -- who was originally meant to be part of the deal before his death in a Russian prison in February.

In a clear signal of her future stance if elected as president, Harris vowed in the call that she would "continue to stand with those fighting for freedom in Russia and around the world."

But the upshot is not just that Biden wants to secure his legacy and help Harris while doing so -- instead, the two goals appear to be one and the same.

"Part of his legacy now is to get her elected," said Sesno.

"If Donald Trump is elected and then undoes a lot of things Biden did, that tarnishes and overshadows his legacy," he said.

"What Joe Biden is going to do from here to Election Day is trying to be sure that anything that his administration can claim credit for, Kamala Harris gets a piece of the sunshine."

Trump strongly criticized the prisoner swap, saying it was a "win" for Russian President Vladimir Putin and could spur other adversaries to detain US nationals.

But the former president's previous boasts that only he could secure Gershkovich's release had played into Biden's hands now that the Democrat had done so himself.

"He got gazumped by Biden-Harris," said Sesno. "In some ways they have Donald Trump to thank for the credit that they get for bringing him back."