LEILA FADEL, HOST:
At the convention, the Democrats' blue stage was originally built to make a case for a second Biden-Harris administration. Now that stage will showcase a new nominee - Vice President Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. To kick it off, President Biden will give the cornerstone speech for the convention's opening festivities this evening. Ron Klain is a former chief of staff in the Biden White House and one of the president's confidantes. He joins us now to discuss what we may hear. Good morning.
RON KLAIN: Good morning. Thanks for having me, Leila.
FADEL: Thanks for being on the program. So before President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, he said that he was the best person to run as the Democratic nominee. So what will Biden say tonight to convince voters that Harris is now the best person to lead the ticket?
KLAIN: Well, Vice President Harris is leading our ticket. She's doing a great job of it. She's been in the race for less than a month and has raised a record amount of money, has spurred voter enthusiasm, is building support all over the country. You just had sound from her trip in Pennsylvania the other day. And in that critical battleground state, she's exciting voters. She and Governor Walz are connecting with voters and bringing energy to her ticket.
She is uniquely qualified to be our next president. She spent four years working on the achievements in this administration. She's represented the United States at important international conferences. She's met face-to-face with important world leaders. She's briefed daily on the U.S. intelligence situation. And she is ready to be our next president and ready to succeed as president from day one. You'll hear the president make that case tonight about what they've done together these four years, what she and Tim Walz will do the next four years. It's a powerful case. I think it'll get a great national airing tonight.
FADEL: Now, you were among those calling for Biden to stay in the race. What changed for you, and what do you say to people who were of a similar opinion?
KLAIN: Look - the president made a decision that the party wouldn't unite behind him. He decided to do the most responsible thing, which was to leave the race and endorse the vice president - not have some crazy open process but endorse the one person who's experienced, who's been in the room as big decisions have been made, who's gone toe-to-toe with world leaders and who's ready to lead our country on day one. That's Vice President Harris. She's played a key role in getting us out of the pandemic and getting prices back down and fighting corporate greed and, you know, advancing the cause to combat climate change and improve conditions here in the U.S. and around the world. And so she's ready to be president. And she's qualified for the job. And she's doing a great job on the campaign trail, and she'll do a great job in the White House.
FADEL: Now, there has been a lot of excitement over Harris in the last month, but can this ticket unite the Democratic Party, which was particularly fractured among young voters and more progressive voters over Biden's policy in Gaza?
KLAIN: Yeah, look - I think the party was always more united than it seemed, but I do think that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are bringing some of the disaffected Democrats back to the party quickly. We're seeing that in her rising rates in the polls and in the enthusiasm in her rallies and grassroots donations. So I think she's having great success in uniting the party behind her, and the party should unite behind her. She's an exceptional leader. She's led our fight to protect women's rights after the Dobbs decision, to restore reproductive rights. She's been a leader for small business. She's been a leader for economic growth. And so I think it's no surprise the party's reuniting behind her.
You had a sound earlier in the program from Secretary Blinken in the Middle East, who's trying to achieve a cease-fire there and bring the hostages home and end the war in Gaza. And I think Democrats are united in the belief that the president's plan to do that - which has been endorsed by European leaders, by Middle Eastern leaders, just needs Hamas to sign on - is the right way to end this horrible situation in Gaza, to bring humanitarian relief to Gaza and bring the hostages back. So the president has a plan. The vice president supports the plan. We need Hamas to get on board with the plan. We need more diplomatic pressure to get the plan done, but then we can end this war in the Middle East and build towards a meaningful and lasting peace there, as part of an overall world that the president and the vice president work to make safer.
FADEL: In the few seconds that we have left, I mean, you know the president well. Is it difficult for him to take the stage tonight as a supporter of Harris as the nominee, rather than as the nominee?
KLAIN: No. I talked him last night, Leila. He was very excited for the chance to make the case for Vice President Harris. When he left the race, he endorsed her. He explicitly pointed Democrats to rally behind her. Now he gets a chance to do that on a big stage. He's really looking forward to campaigning for her throughout the fall to try to help her win this important election.
FADEL: Former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, thank you for your time.
KLAIN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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