Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, tried to downplay concerns Wednesday if elected running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., would need to replace him before his term was over, heaping praise on her by saying she would be ready on "day one" – and then quickly adding, "if someone pushed me off a roof."
Biden's comments on the nationally syndicated radio program "The Steve Harvey Morning Show" come as many, including President Donald Trump, have questioned the former vice president's mental acuity amid numerous gaffes, such as misstating the words to the Pledge of Allegiance on Monday in Wisconsin and a day earlier in Philadelphia saying 200 million have died in the United States from COVID-19 instead of 200,000.
Biden, 77, called Harris, 55, "so good" and "so damn bright and knowledgeable."
"She's ready to be president on Day One if I – if somebody pushed me off a roof or something," he said. "There are a lot of really fine women that I had to choose from, but I think she's ready on Day One."
Conservative commentators especially have been mocking Biden for his frequent gaffes, with The Federalist keeping a running tally.
In a Rasmussen poll last month, 59% of likely voters, including 49% of Democrats, said they thought it was unlikely Biden would finish a four-year term if elected.