(NEXSTAR) — Steve Benjamin was on the phone with President Joe Biden and other advisers when the president announced he would not seek re-election. In an interview with Nexstar this week from Democratic National Convention In Chicago, Benjamin, assistant and senior adviser to the president, expressed his admiration for Biden’s decision and was not surprised that Vice President Kamala Harris has won the hearts of most members of the Democratic Party as a presidential candidate.
“I see it as an incredible validation of the successes of the Biden-Harris administration,” Benjamin told Nexstar on Wednesday. “The president’s most important decision was, ‘Who would actually succeed him? Who would be his partner?’ He chose Kamala Harris and I think what we’re seeing – it’s excitement about a new generation of leadership.”
Benjamin pointed to the government’s various successes, including the American Rescue Planwhich he credits with job growth, tiny business survival, and health care assistance for Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The excitement about the agenda has always been there,” Benjamin said. “But the excitement we’re seeing now is all about what the vice president represents. We’re talking about someone who has spent her life fighting for the people — literally… I think people are drawn to her message and this great governor, Tim Walz. People are excited. This turning point: Within a month, this Congress has been reorganized around this fresh generation of leadership. As you can all see, [the energy]it’s electric.”
Benjamin said enthusiasm for Harris and Walz has crossed party lines in unexpected but surprising ways.
“I think in the last few days we’ve seen more Republicans than Democrats on the stage,” Benjamin told Nexstar.[The campaign is doing] amazing bipartisan reach. When I talk to independent and Republican voters…I talk to people who say: “This is not my Republican Party. We need people to bring us together.”
Benjamin, 54, previously served as mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, from April 2010 to December 2021. President Biden announced Benjamin’s appointment in February 2023, with Biden calling Benjamin a “longtime public servant” who “would serve our administration and the American public well.”
With just 75 days until Election Day, the Harris-Walz campaign is taking advantage of the momentum and going full throttle. Benjamin says the campaign has made about 900,000 phone calls and 150,000 home visits in the last week alone.
“The efforts across the country, in all 50 states — it’s real,” Benjamin said Wednesday. “It’s real. There are places that weren’t in the game a few weeks ago that are very much in the game now.”
