Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Kayleigh McEnany Says Harris Campaign Failed To Stop Biden From ‘Interfering’ With Their Chances Of Winning

[Screenshot/Fox News]

Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany said on Tuesday that former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign failed to stop former President Joe Biden from “interfering” with their chances of winning the 2024 election.

Biden notably referred to President Donald Trump’s supporters attending his rally at Madison Square Garden as “garbage” during an October 2024 Zoom call, which reportedly hurt the Harris campaign just days before the election. McEnany, a former White House press secretary during Trump’s first term, said Harris’ decision to distance herself from Biden backfired when he showed his face publicly.

“There was a lead up to this garbage moment with Biden,” McEnany said. “You had him first putting on the MAGA hat, and the reporting from [Axios’] Alex Thompson’s book was that Kamala Harris said ‘what is he doing?’ And that’s when the campaign said this, ‘the Harris campaign decided that would be the last time she would make a public appearance with Biden.’ So long before this, they said ‘we’re not going to appear with Biden.’ Imagine that, the vice president benching the president. He wanted to be out there, but they relegated him to Zoom calls, and it was on a Zoom call where he made the garbage comment. So even putting him on Zoom didn’t stop him from interfering in the campaign.”

WATCH:

A day after Biden’s ‘garbage’ remark, Harris said that she disagreed with criticizing people based on who they vote for and planned on being a leader for all Americans. Trump successfully campaigned on the then-president’s remark by hosting a press conference from inside a garbage truck.

McEnany said Trump’s garbage truck optic was an “iconic” moment in the lead up to the 2024 election, helping the now-president make major inroads with blue collar workers.

The Harris campaign believed that the vice president holding joint press conferences with Biden would “only hurt her” as the election approached, The New York Times reported in November. This led Biden to attend union events while the then-vice president campaigned alongside famous celebrities, such as Beyonce.

Harris also distanced herself from Biden’s economic policies, which were unpopular among Americans due to record-high inflation. Polling found that most Americans trusted Trump to better handle the economy and immigration, the top two issues for voters in the election.