A new book has exposed tensions within the 2024 Democratic campaign, revealing former Vice President Kamala Harris’s anger over ex-President Joe Biden’s controversial decision to don a Donald Trump 2024 hat during a public event.The incident, which occurred at the Shanksville Fire Station in Pennsylvania in September 2024, quickly went viral after Biden was seen placing a Trump supporter’s “Trump 2024” campaign hat on top of his own. The White House initially described the act as a friendly gesture of unity. But according to Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book, named “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again”, Harris was stunned by the stunt.“What is he doing?” Harris reportedly asked her team upon seeing the video. “This is completely unhelpful. And so unnecessary.” The book notes that this marked the last time Harris appeared at a public event alongside Biden before the election.The authors add, “But it was not the last time that Biden did something unhelpful,” highlighting further missteps from the former president during the campaign.One such incident involved Biden harshly criticising Trump supporters during a campaign call on behalf of Harris. Biden called Trump supporters “garbage” and condemned their alleged demonisation of the Latino community, referencing a comment from a Trump rally speaker who described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”Harris publicly distanced herself from Biden’s remarks, emphasising her commitment to representing all voters regardless of political affiliation. “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she said. “I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not.”The book also reveals that several of Biden’s 2024 campaign videos were scrapped due to poor performance. In one notable example, a planned town hall-style video shoot in a high school gym was abandoned after Biden struggled to respond effectively to scripted questions. Though some blamed technical issues like poor lighting, the book suggests Biden’s difficulties were the primary problem.
