Hold onto your hats, folks—former Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly let loose with some choice words about CNN’s Anderson Cooper after a heated interview following former President Joe Biden’s shaky debate performance against Donald Trump in June 2024.
According to the New York Post, a bombshell book, "Original Sin," by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, released on May 20, 2025, uncovers Harris’s frustration with Cooper, alongside a deep dive into Biden’s faltering debate prep and the fallout that led to his historic withdrawal from the presidential race.
Let’s rewind to June 2024, when Biden’s debate against Trump was nothing short of a disaster, sparking outright panic among Democrats who watched their leader stumble through answers with a frail, often incoherent demeanor.
According to the book, Biden’s preparation at Camp David in rural Maryland was a mess from day one—he napped through the entire first practice session while advisers scrambled to get him ready.
Mock debates revealed a rusty Biden, whose voice was barely audible, delivery choppy, and responses scattered, with advisers even nudging him to keep his mouth closed when not speaking due to an unsettling, agape expression.
Things only got worse as the week progressed; Biden’s voice grew raspier, aides struggled to hear him, and he repeatedly requested cough drops, later blaming a cold for his catastrophic performance on the debate stage.
Post-debate, Harris’s team urged her to skip all interviews, wary of Biden’s stone-faced, train-of-thought-losing appearance that had Democrats in a tailspin, but she pressed on with CNN anyway.
During the interview, Cooper didn’t hold back, pointing out the “panic” among Democrats and labeling Biden’s showing a “train wreck,” while pressing Harris on whether the president should step aside.
Harris deflected, calling it a “slow start” but insisting Biden finished “strong,” adding, “People can debate on style points,” as if a 90-minute meltdown could be brushed off as mere aesthetics.
Behind closed doors, Harris wasn’t so composed—venting to colleagues with a sharp, “This motherf–ker doesn’t treat me like the damn vice president,” clearly feeling disrespected by Cooper’s pointed grilling.
She doubled down with, “I thought we were better than that,” revealing a raw frustration with the media’s refusal to softball a performance even her party couldn’t defend.
Well, turns out dodging tough questions isn’t as easy as some might hope—Harris learned the hard way that the spotlight doesn’t dim just because the debate did.
The book paints a grim picture of Biden’s broader struggles; even short video addresses were cut from five minutes to one or two because he couldn’t get through without flubbing lines, despite camera tricks and jump cuts to mask the issues.
At 82, Biden’s challenges—once attributed by allies to a childhood stutter—stood in stark contrast to critics’ memories of a once-eloquent senator and VP, culminating in his withdrawal, the first elected president since Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to not seek a second term.
