Harris Acknowledges Biden Had a 'Slow Start' in Debate and Tries to Calm Democratic Fears

US Vice President Kamala Harris introduces US President Joe Biden during a campaign rally at Girard College on May 29, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP
US Vice President Kamala Harris introduces US President Joe Biden during a campaign rally at Girard College on May 29, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP
TT
20

Harris Acknowledges Biden Had a 'Slow Start' in Debate and Tries to Calm Democratic Fears

US Vice President Kamala Harris introduces US President Joe Biden during a campaign rally at Girard College on May 29, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP
US Vice President Kamala Harris introduces US President Joe Biden during a campaign rally at Girard College on May 29, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP

Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that President Joe Biden had a “slow start” in his debate against Donald Trump on Thursday night, but she insisted that he finished “strong” in a performance that triggered a new round of concerns within their own party about Biden's fitness to be their standard-bearer.
“It was a slow start. That’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point," Harris said in an interview on CNN following the debate. “I'm talking about the choice for November. I’m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime”, The Associated Press said.
Harris gave interviews on CNN and MSNBC amid growing Democratic panic over Biden's performance, which fueled longstanding questions about whether the 81-year-old president should step aside.
As she acknowledged Biden's uneven performance, Harris emphasized the substance of Trump's remarks during the 90-minute debate, including his refusal to condemn the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his unwillingness to emphatically commit to accepting the results of this November's election.
She also said the contrast between Biden and Trump ultimately has to be on Biden's performance in office, rather than in one debate.
“I got the point that you’re making about a one and a half hour debate tonight. I’m talking about three and a half years of performance in work that has been historic,” Harris said in a tense exchange with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
Harris continued: “The Joe Biden that I work with every day is someone who, as I have said, has performed in a way that has been about bringing people into the Oval Office, Republicans and Democrats, to compromise in a way that is extraordinary these days."
She concluded her MSNBC interview by saying that “only one of the two people on that debate stage, only one of them has the endorsement of his vice president. And let’s not forget that.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence has declined to endorse Trump this year. Trump pressured Pence to go along with his plan to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.



UK Hosts European Ministers for Ukraine Talks after Ceasefire Ultimatum

The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP
The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP
TT
20

UK Hosts European Ministers for Ukraine Talks after Ceasefire Ultimatum

The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP
The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP

The UK will on Monday host European ministers for "critical" talks on "repelling Russian aggression", two days after Ukraine's allies demanded that Moscow accept a ceasefire.

Representatives from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the EU will join Foreign Secretary David Lammy in London for a meeting of the so-called "Weimar+" group.

The coalition was set up in February in response to shifting US policy towards the war between Ukraine and Russia, and European security in general under President Donald Trump, AFP said.

The meeting follows Saturday's visit by the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the UK to Kyiv, where they called for Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to allow for peace talks -- a proposal they said was backed by the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, but did not respond to the European call for a 30-day ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be prepared to meet Putin in Türkiye, but did not say whether he would still attend if Russia refused the European proposal.

The London meeting, where Lammy is expected to announce further sanctions targeting those backing Russia's invasion, will be the sixth gathering of the Weimar+ group and the first hosted by the UK.

'Existential' challenge

The talks will cover "repelling Russian aggression and bolstering European security", said the UK Foreign Office.

They will focus on "both our joint efforts to strengthen European security and securing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine", it added. 

Lammy will be joined by his German, Spanish and Polish counterparts, while France will be represented by its minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad.

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas will also attend.

European leaders are "facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent", said Lammy.

"The challenge we face today is not only about the future of Ukraine -– it is existential for Europe as a whole," he said ahead of the talks.

"I have brought our friends and partners to London to make clear that we must stand together, allied in our protection of sovereignty, of peace and of Ukraine," he added.

Ceasefire plan

European leaders have reacted with skepticism to Putin's proposal for direct talks in Istanbul, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning that he was merely trying "to buy time".

"An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations, by definition," he told reporters as he stepped off a train in the Polish city of Przemysl on his return from Ukraine.

He reiterated his position in a statement from the Elysee later Sunday, insisting on "necessity for a ceasefire" before talks between Putin and Zelensky.

In a phone call with Lammy on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington's "top priority remains bringing an end to the fighting and an immediate ceasefire", State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

Kyiv and its allies had feared that Trump was pivoting towards Moscow because he had clashed with Zelensky. But Trump has recently expressed growing impatience with Putin.