Former Republican Utah Congresswoman Mia Love said Sunday that a difficult primary may not have been what former Vice President Joe Biden was expecting.
Joining the panel with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Love noted that, while Biden did have his years as vice president to fall back on, that was complicated by the fact that “the things that he did independently, he’s apologizing for.” (RELATED: Biden Buckles, Flips On Hyde Amendment Under Pressure From Democrats)
WATCH:
Tapper began the segment by noting that former President Obama, who twice selected Biden as his running mate, had thus far refrained from giving even a hint of an endorsement. Former First Lady Michelle Obama has explained that they planned to let the primary process play out, saying that they would endorse the Democrat who came out on top.
Jen Psaki, who worked as communications director in the Obama White House, conceded that Biden had made a few missteps.
“There were a couple of things he could have done years ago, including calling Anita Hill,” she said. “But we are where we are. I think his advisers were telling him for months, this is going to be a hard race and people are coming after you because you are the front-runner. You’ll have to reintroduce yourself and what we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks is he’s learned that himself. People don’t fully know him.”
“I don’t think Joe Biden thought this would be as difficult as it is,” Love jumped in, asserting that one of Biden’s problems was convincing people that he could lead now that he’s not just part of the Obama administration. “You have Kamala Harris calling him out on all of these issues. He’s got two problems. One is he has to separate himself and say, look, I wasn’t just part of the Obama administration, I was actually a leader there. I was — these are my proposals. He’s got to talk about what he is going to do. And on the other end, the things that he did independently, he’s apologizing for.”
Love conceded that Biden had apologized for things but noted that might not be enough for some voters.
“At some point people think — and people know that a great indicator of what you’re going to do in the future is what you’ve done in the past — and you have to figure out if you’re apologizing for the things you did independently, how are you going be a different leader? And I think he’s struggling with that,” Love concluded.