Sen. Kamala Harris: ‘The buck stops’ with Trump on nation’s coronavirus response

Sen. Kamala Harris appears on “Good Morning America,” Jan. 21, 2019. – (Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC)(NEW YORK) — California Sen. Kamala Harris, who ended her presidential bid late last year weighed in on President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus saying the president is ultimately responsible for leading the nation at a time of unprecedented crisis.

“The buck stops with him. You know, here’s the thing, this is a this is a moment of international crisis,” Harris told the hosts of ABC’s The View. “And this is where leaders must lead. The president of the United States was also the commander in chief in a moment of national crisis, which is that we have a public health pandemic that has led to an economic crisis. The president of the United States, the commander in chief must use the voice of that office in a way that is about speaking truth, embracing fact ….no matter how uncomfortable it may make people to hear”

Harris ended her historic effort to secure the Democratic nomination in December.

“I’ve taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life. My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue,” the California lawmaker wrote in a letter to supporters at the time. “I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete. In good faith, I can’t tell you, my supporters and volunteers, that I have a path forward if I don’t believe I do. So, to you my supporters, it is with deep regret — but also with deep gratitude — that I am suspending my campaign today.”

Harris had said she took a hard look at the campaign’s resources over the Thanksgiving holiday and made the decision after discussing the path forward with her family and senior aides, a senior Harris aide told ABC News. She ultimately endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president.

NEW: Sen. Kamala Harris tells @TheView that Bernie Sanders “is really an extraordinary leader” who “has the ability to think beyond what is and see what can be and I admire him for that.”

Sanders suspended his 2020 campaign today: https://t.co/FKrCZRuVjl pic.twitter.com/DqmuMkgus4

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 8, 2020

On Wednesday, Biden’s last remaining rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, suspended his campaign.

Sanders’ exit from the 2020 field all but assures that Biden will likely become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

“I work in the senate with Bernie Sanders and of course I ran for president and was on that stage with him,” she told the show’s hosts “Bernie is really an extraordinary leader, one of the things that Bernie brought to not only the race but the national dialogue and discourse and was was this point about everyone having access to health care, and affordable health care and universal healthcare and Medicare for all and Bernie really pushed that conversation so that it became -actually consumed the majority of the conversations that were happening on the debate stage.”

Of Biden, who she pushed on his past stances on desegregation busing policies earlier in the 2020 campaign, Harris said the two have cleared the air.

“I have a great deal of affection for him, and I believe that he is going to be an extraordinary president and the kind of President that we need at this moment, which is someone who has the ability to hold that office with a sense of dignity and a sense of kindness and empathy, but also address the challenges,” she said.

She also demurred on questions about whether she is under consideration as a vice presidential running mate.

“So I know that conversation is taking place in the press and among pundits and I’m honored to even be considered,” she said adding that her attention is focused on the congressional response to coronavirus’ impact on Americans.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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