Biden Reportedly Told Harris Not to Distance Herself from His Positions on Day of Trump Debate: ‘No Daylight, Kid’

Former President Joe Biden reportedly told Kamala Harris there was to be “no daylight” between her positions and his ahead of her debate with Donald Trump.

On the campaign trail ahead of November’s election, Harris was heavily criticized for her failure to provide clear distinctions on the differences between her proposed policies and Biden’s. That criticism came as a result of Harris’s appearance on The View when she claimed there was nothing she would do differently from Biden’s term as president.

In an excerpt from the upcoming book “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House” by Jonathan Allen and The Hill’s Amie Parnes, it was reported that Biden made clear that Harris could not distance herself from him:

He would say publicly that Harris should do what she must to win. But privately, including in conversations with her, he repeated an admonition: let there be no daylight between us. “No daylight” was the phrase he had used as a vice presidential candidate in 2008 to bind Republican nominee John McCain to an unpopular president, George W. Bush.

Almost everywhere she went, Harris walked among former Biden aides who sought to defend his presidency. Her campaign was run by a former White House deputy chief of staff — whom she had just empowered to box out her own confidants — and a phalanx of department heads who had served Biden until the previous month.

That message was also repeated on the day of Harris’s only debate against Trump. It came during what was described as “an usual kind of pep talk”:

But the day of the debate Biden called to give Harris an unusual kind of pep talk — and another reminder about the loyalty he demanded. No longer able to defend his own record, he expected Harris to protect his legacy.

Whether she won or lost the election, he thought, she would only harm him by publicly distancing herself from him — especially during a debate that would be watched by millions of Americans. To the extent that she wanted to forge her own path, Biden had no interest in giving her room to do so. He needed just three words to convey how much all of that mattered to him.

“No daylight, kid,” Biden said.