‘Kamala Harris is going to prosecute the case – and we’re gonna win’, says former Biden aide

We spoke to Susan Platt – who was Joe Biden’s former chief of staff in the senate.

Susan Platt: In 100 days, the sun’s going to be shining, when I help Kamala Harris move into the White House.

Matt Frei: You’re confident about that?

Susan Platt: I’m confident about that. It was clearly a very personal decision, where he relied on his family. But unlike Donald Trump’s patriots, which are now in jail for trying to overthrow the government, Joe Biden is a patriot and one of our greatest patriots in this country. He did what was the best for himself, for his family and for the country.

Matt Frei: But was it the money? I hear that, and I heard lots of people say the same thing. But was it the money running out that persuaded him, or was it Jill Biden, the wife, saying to him, it’s over, Joe, give it a rest.

Susan Platt: I don’t really think it was either, because Jill will support whatever Joe wants to do. I think what it was, is he had some time, he got Covid, he had some time to sit back and digest what was happening in the country. And I’m sure he was just so confident in his decision of having Kamala Harris be our vice president, that he knew she could move forward and knew we could unite around her, and then he would just be, his legacy would be so intact.

Matt Frei: Because almost the opposite was happening, because people got so angry with him staying in the White House. His problems in terms of mental acuity were known for some time and there were accusations that he was being shielded, basically, from the reality.

Susan Platt: I think if you watched a map of the Nato conference, no one would say he was diminished or cognitively challenged. He was right.

Matt Frei: Apart from calling President Zelenskyy President Putin?

Susan Platt: We all make…Donald Trump called Nancy Pelosi Kamala Harris, or whatever it was he did, and I think we’re in great hands. The convention is going to be a uniting event. You could feel the energy starting to build yesterday, even before we knew the over $50 million that were contributed. My money was in there as well. So I think we’re going to have a great time. And I keep hearing if you’re familiar in the UK with the show ‘Law and Order’. It goes the prosecutor against the criminal and the music keeps running in my head. The theme song ‘duh duh duh duh duh duh.’ Kamala Harris is going to prosecute the case and we’re going to win.

Matt Frei: Because she was a fearsome prosecutor when she was working as a prosecutor in California. We haven’t seen much of that fearsome side of her recently. In fact, the nickname for her amongst Republicans is ‘Laughing Kamala.’ So does she need to change now? Does she need to go back to the old Kamala in order to convince the party and the nation?

Susan Platt: Her job as vice president to Joe Biden, the president, was to support him and where she could. And she did that job very admirably, and she’s a very strong candidate. We’re all so proud to have for the second time, have a woman going to be nominated for president. And we know that next year we’re going to turn the prosecuted 34 felony counts guy away from Washington and increase it to have the prosecutor.

Matt Frei: If she is such a strong candidate, how come people weren’t mentioning her name, shouting it from the rafters months before? Because it hadn’t been up there.

Susan Platt: Her job was to back up the president. She did it admirably, and she’s coming into her own just at the right time, where she will be her strongest, coming out of the convention and taking it to Donald Trump.

Matt Frei: Is there still an element of doubt about her nomination? Are there still Democrats, both donors and politicians, who think, this is the best dish that’s coming on. But there’s an ‘eat as much as you can’ buffet of other candidates out there that we haven’t even touched.

Susan Platt: It’s a historic time, obviously, with Joe Biden’s great successes and then him stepping aside to pass the torch. I think we all have great confidence in what she’ll do. I think, until you have the binary choice, there’s all questions all the time.

Matt Frei: But did he leave it too late, do you think, Joe Biden, and people were begging him to go literally the day after the debate?

Susan Platt: It’s light, but there’s still time.

Matt Frei: And just one other brief one. She’s very closely associated with immigration and the so-called open border. This is something the Republicans have already started hammering her on.

Susan Platt: I think she’ll do a fine job. She’s come out and supported the president’s policies. We all support those. I don’t think the United States wants to be known as a country that just says, deport them all. We want to be a welcoming country, which is what we were founded on.

Matt Frei: And if a woman is defeated for the second time by a man called Donald Trump, first Hillary, now her?

Susan Platt: Not going to happen.

Matt Frei: Not going to happen?

Susan Platt: Not going to happen.