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2020 Election Video: Barack Obama Talks to Kamala Harris About Surviving The Campaign Trail

The former president shared tips on what it’s like campaigning with Joe Biden.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris caught up with former president Barack Obama to get some advice on weathering the campaign trail as the election enters its final months. In the video call, Harris said that to deal with the rough schedule, daily exercise and Mary J. Blige are two ways she stays motivated.

“I work out every morning, regardless of how much sleep I’ve had, it’s just the best way to start the day,” Harris told Obama, saying she’s had to substitute liter water bottles for actual weights because they were sold out of them. 

Obama himself remembered having to use treadmills in an Iowa beauty salon to get exercise. “...And I’d be walking by and women would be looking, ‘why is this guy there?’“ But he turned to music and asked Harris what’s on her playlist.

“I’ve got my playlist,” the California senator said. “You know I love some Mary J. Blige.” But she also said that she takes a break in the day to Facetime with “the kids in my life and get a sense of the world through their eyes.”

RELATED: Political Siblings: Barack Obama And Kamala Harris Are More Alike Than Different

The conversation turned to presidential candidate Joe Biden, who served as vice president with Obama and it started with his favorite foods.

“Ice cream is big, pasta with red sauce, he can go deep on that,” said Obama, who also commented on Biden’s fashion sense as Harris chuckled. “He really does like those aviator glasses. He knows he looks good in them.

“But the main thing to know about Joe has never lost his sense of why we do this,” the former president continued. “And we do it, because, for him, memories of his family back in Scranton [Pa.] and then the people of Delaware that he represented, the folks on the Amtrak train he met each and every day. He is constantly aware that that is why we do this and that everything that comes up, his focus is gonna be how’s that gonna help those people who sent him there?”

Kamala Harris laughed and said that she loves that it means Biden will likely be taking extra time to speak to people and recognize them.
“Folks want to be seen and Joe sees people through those aviator glasses and without them,” she said.  “He really does see people, it’s a very special thing about him.”

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