Jill Biden said Kamala Harris could ‘go f*** herself’ after 2019 debate attack on Joe, new book claims

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Jill Biden told a group of close supporters that Kamala Harris could “go f*** herself” after the then-Senator attacked Joe Biden during the June 2019 Democratic primary debate regarding his record in the US Senate. In the aftermath, multiple people say that Ms Biden said on a phone call with supporters: “With what he cares about, what he fights for, what he’s committed to, you get up there and call him a racist without basis?” “Go f*** yourself.” Politico quotes spokesperson Michael Larosa as saying about the report of the call: “Many books will be written on the 2020 campaign, with countless retellings of events – some accurate, some inaccurate.” He added: “The first lady and her team do not plan to comment on any of them.” Ms Harris’ campaign had a strong start, but didn’t appear to be gaining traction in the crowded field that summer. On stage that night, turning to Mr Biden, she said: “I’m going to now direct this at Vice President Biden: I do not believe you are a racist, and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground.” “But I also believe, and it’s personal – it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country,” she continued. Mr Biden was visibly taken aback by the attack and he plodded through his response, before turning to fellow candidate Pete Buttigieg at the podium next to him during a commercial break and saying: “Well, that was some f***ing bulls***.” Mr Dovere contends in his book – Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats’ Campaigns to Defeat Trump – that what struck Jill Biden so much about the attack was that it came from a woman who described herself as a friend of their late-son Beau and yet she was point-scoring in a debate by tearing down his father.