Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (D) said Wednesday that he is now “very pleased” that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has accepted the offer to be former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate after previously saying she should “politely decline” the offer.
“No, I did not hear from her, but I’m very pleased that she did accept the offer from Joe Biden to be his running mate,” Brown said on Fox Business’ “Cavuto: Coast to Coast“.
Brown’s comment came after he was asked about an op-ed he wrote for the San Francisco Examiner that was published Monday. He wrote that “the vice presidency has often ended up being a dead end. For every George H.W. Bush, who ascended from the job to the presidency, there’s an Al Gore, who never got there.”
Brown, who served as mayor from 1996 to 2004, said at the time that he believed Harris would be in a better political position if she was appointed as U.S. attorney general.
“So I was fearful that a talented person like Kamala Harris, who has the potential to be president of this nation, if she ever got sidetracked by being the second banana to a president, she may not be able to demonstrate those skills,” Brown said Wednesday. ”And that is what I was concerned about.”
Biden announced Harris would be his running mate Tuesday afternoon after it was widely speculated that she was one of several women on the short list. Harris will be the first woman of color on a major party’s presidential ticket after she is nominated during the Democratic National Convention next week.
“And, believe me, from a history standpoint, as a Black person, this is the first Black woman to rise to the level of a national ticket,” Brown said. “Only four women have been on the national ticket in one fashion or another. She is the first African-American to hit there.”
Updated 2:14 p.m.