CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Asks Does VP Kamala Harris ‘Help Or Hurt Biden On The Ticket’ After Elizabeth Warren Remarks

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins asked CNN analyst and former Democratic Congressman Mondaire Jones does Vice President Kamala Harris “help or hurt Biden on the ticket” after Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren causd an uproar by refusing to endorse such a pairing in 2024.

In a radio interview Friday, Massachusetts Senator and former presidential candidate Warren emphatically endorsed a reelection bid by President Joe Biden — but hit the brakes when asked if VP Harris should be his running mate. She later released a statement cleaning up the remarks.

On Tuesday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Collins played Warren’s remarks, noting she’s been hearing about it from White House sources.

Collins asked Jones to weigh in on the comments following the clip. Former Rep. Jones defended Warren, and when Collins asked “Does [VP Harris] help or hurt Biden on the ticket?”, Jones defended Harris’s qualifications and took a shot at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:

COLLINS: There was this moment that I know — I talked to people inside the White House that caught their attention — is something that Sen. Elizabeth Warren said. She was doing a radio interview and she was asked about Biden running again. And she was asked about Vice President Harris specifically and whether or not she belongs on the 2024 ticket. This was her answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should Joe Biden run again for president? He’ll be 86 by the time his second term is over if he —

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Yes, he should run again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he’s that old in the second term the vice presidency becomes even more important. Should Kamala Harris be the — his choice the second time around?

WARREN: You know, I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team.

I’ve known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was — when she was an attorney general and I was still teaching and we worked on the housing crisis together. So we go way back.

But they need — they have to be a team and my sense is they are. I don’t mean that by suggesting I think there are any problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: That’s not how the White House took it. She later put out a statement saying she didn’t mean to intend or imply that she doesn’t think they’re a great team. But that was kind of a moment that wasn’t as emphatic of an endorsement as people suspected it might be.

JONES: You know, I think people are reading too much into it. I think she intended to do what she said initially, which was defer to the president. I don’t think that there is any reason that she or anyone else would believe that the president would not run with his vice president for a second term.

And there are concerns within the party. I mean, that’s obvious and —

COLLINS: About what?

JONES: I think people wonder about her popularity. But the fact is she won on the ticket back in 2020. If anything, they have more to run on in order to be able to survive a challenge by Donald Trump or I think many of the other people like Ron DeSantis who are thinking about running on their public insight and I think you’ll see that happen.

COLLINS: Does she help or hurt Biden on the ticket?

JONES: I think she helps with certain demographics and then, she’s — you know, hurtful with respect to other demographics. But ultimately, it’s the top of the ticket that matters, especially when she’s clearly qualified, unlike a Sarah Palin who I think was the reason why many people voted against John McCain.

Watch above via CNN This Morning.