Kamala Harris's campaign took a page out of the Biden White House playbook on Friday, issuing an edited transcript that cleaned up a bizarre comment in which Harris lauded Joe Biden as "a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances."
Kamala HQ tweeted a clip of the remark overnight Friday, shortly after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Marine veteran Paul Whelan, and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva arrived back on American soil following a prisoner swap with Russia. But the campaign did not include Harris's full quote, instead opting for an edited—and considerably less jumbled—version.
"Vice President Harris: This is an extraordinary day and I'm very thankful for our president. This is an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and strengthening alliances," the campaign wrote.
Vice President Harris: This is an extraordinary day and I'm very thankful for our president. This is an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and strengthening alliances. This is an incredible day and you can see it… pic.twitter.com/wqiqylGsXn
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 2, 2024
Here's what Harris actually said: "This is an extraordinary day, and, um, I'm very thankful for our president and what he has done over his entire career but in particular as it relates to these families and these individuals—what he has been able to do to bring the allies together on many issues but in particular this one. This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances."
Biden's White House is known for smoothing out the president's quotes in official transcripts. In December, for example, Biden said during a speech in Las Vegas that he secured "over a billion 300 million trillion 300 million dollars" in infrastructure spending. The White House transcript quoted Biden as saying "over 1,300,000,000—$1,000,300,000,000."
Harris, like Biden, has largely leaned on teleprompters to deliver remarks since she became the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee. Harris has not sat down for a formal interview since Biden exited the race nearly two weeks ago.