Harris says Biden 'courageous' for choosing to step aside

By Stephanie Kelly

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 election race this summer was "one of the most courageous" any president has made.

"President Biden made a decision that I think history will show was probably one of the most courageous that a president could make, which is he decided to put country above his personal interest," Harris said during the Las Vegas event sponsored by Univision, a Spanish-language television network, according to press pool reporters. Her remarks were dubbed into Spanish on television.

"I believe that the stakes right now are extraordinarily high, and potentially, some might say, historians have said unprecedented."

The Democratic presidential nominee made the remarks when pressed by a voter who said he was leaning towards Trump and expressed concern about how Biden exited the race. The voter said he wanted clarity on why Harris became the nominee without going through a competitive primary.

Biden ended his re-election bid on July 21, after facing weeks of pressure from prominent Democratic elected officials and donors concerned about his age and fitness. Biden immediately endorsed Harris, who locked down the support of enough Democratic delegates to secure the party's nomination.

Harris said in an interview on ABC News' "The View" on Tuesday that there is "not a thing" she would have done differently from Biden as president. The remark was seized upon by Donald Trump's campaign, which wants voters to see the Republican ex-president as the 2024 candidate of change.

Harris said Biden, who is not making regular campaign appearances on her behalf, has been a key partner and supporter and that his decision to leave the race marked a sharp contrast with Trump, who never conceded his 2020 election loss.

"We are literally having a choice as the American people about choosing a path either that is about rule of law, democracy or something that is about admiring dictators," she said, according to the pool reporters.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in Las Vegas, Nevada; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Tom Hogue)