Kamala Harris has revealed she is "ready" to take over as President of the United States, should the current POTUS Joe Biden become unable to fulfill the role.
Harris, 58, made history by becoming the first female vice president, as well as the highest-ranking female official in US history, and the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president, having taken office in January 2021.
She and Biden had won the 2020 presidential election, with Biden previously having served as vice president himself under Barack Obama's leadership.
However, some critics have raised concerns about 80-year-old Biden's age potentially meaning he may need to step down from the role in the future, particularly given that he is running for a second term which would mean he would be 86 upon leaving office.
Harris has addressed the question, revealing that she believes she is ready to step into the presidency should Biden need to give it up.
During a trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, Harris first deflected a question about Biden's age by highlighting his legislative accomplishments before she was questioned on "how [she] would step in the role if necessary", and whether she felt "prepared" to take on the job after having served as vice president.
She told Associated Press reporter Chris Megerian, as reported by the New York Post: "Yes," but added: "Well, first of all, let’s - I’m answering your hypothetical, but Joe Biden is going to be fine. So that is not going to come to fruition.
"But let us also understand that every vice president - every vice president - understands that when they take the oath, that they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president. I am no different."
Biden is the oldest-ever President of the United States and will turn 81 in November.
Eight of the 45 men who have served as President died while they were in office, with four being assassinated and four dying of natural causes.
Biden had selected Harris as his running mate for the 2020 election despite the pair not always having seen eye to eye in the past over societal issues.
According to certain sources, the pair's relationship behind the scenes is reportedly not always smooth sailing either, with a former White House official claiming to Reuters in May: "A point of tension in their relationship is that I don’t think that the president sees her as somebody who takes anything off of his plate [due to a] fear of messing up."
Author Chris Whipple added in his book The Fight of His Life, which was released in January, that Biden believes Harris is a "work in progress."
He added that Biden reportedly vented to a friend that Harris's husband, Douglas Emhoff, had reportedly complained about tasks that were assigned to her, claiming: "Biden was annoyed. He hadn’t asked Harris to do anything he hadn’t done as vice president - and she’d begged him for the voting rights assignment."
while Biden is set to run for a second term, he is set to face former president Donald Trump who is also vying for the 2024 election, however, key court dates have been set after his arrest which mean his presidential campaign could get derailed.
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