Former US Secretary of State John Kerry backs Kamala Harris to win the White House, labels race ‘critical’

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry has taken aim at social media and a “breakdown in respect for truth and facts”, in a wide-ranging speech in Perth. Mr Kerry said the struggle to find truth had seen a rise in praise for authoritarian regimes, something which was “really dangerous”. And in his only interview while in Perth for the World Travel and Tourism Council global summit, Mr Kerry told The West Australian the upcoming presidential race was “critical” to the direction of both America and the globe. The former Secretary of State under former president Barack Obama also took a veiled swipe at politics and the Supreme Court in the US, labelling growing praise for authoritarianism as “dangerous”. “Honestly, there are many challenges which are exacerbated by to some degree globalisation, certainly significantly by the chaos of social media and the great inability that has grown to be able to find the referees that used to exist to establish truth,” Mr Kerry told the crowd. “Democracy relies on truth. I mean, if you can’t establish facts, it is really hard to govern and that’s what’s really happened, is there’s a breakdown, if you will, and respect for truth and facts. “The court system in my country has not proven itself quite up to the task of being apolitical, doing what the jurisprudence always requires. “I can give you a lot of examples where precedent has been just out of thin air, overruled by people who claimed to believe in the original intents of the founders, and that’s not happening right now.” Those comments came after the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned precedence around the power of the presidency, in a case centred around whether former President Donald Trump could be held legally responsible for his actions. The struggle to find truth had seen a rise in praise for authoritarian regimes, something which was “really dangerous”, he said. Mr Kerry also backed Kamala Harris to win the White House and stood by President Joe Biden’s decision to sensationally pull out of the race. The former Massachusetts senator for almost three decades was also the failed Democratic nominee for president in 2004, losing to George Bush. With the vice president holding a consistent lead over former president Donald Trump, Mr Kerry said Ms Harris could win the race. “I do believe she can win the White House. Yes, I think that millions of Americans believe it,” he said. “I can’t think of an election as critical as this one, and where the stakes extend so far and so obviously, beyond our borders, with Ukraine and the Middle East and just a whole bunch of really big and important issues to people on a global basis, “America’s direction is very much on the line here.” Ms Harris took over as the Democrats’ pick for the race after concerns over Mr Biden’s candidacy and performance in the first debate, something Mr Kerry said had been the right move “Well, I’m an old, long friend of Joe Biden’s, and I have great respect for what he’s done. He’s been a terrific president, but he made his decision, and I and others and everybody believe he made the right decision,” Mr Kerry said. More broadly, Mr Kerry said Americans had more confidence in the State of their nation and its economy than others would have contemplated “There’s really a very profound strength, in my judgment, of the American economy,” he said. “The stock market, which is not the measure of the whole economy, let me emphasise that, but the stock market is an indicator, and there’s confidence, and the market’s been at record highs for the last month. “The real measure of how you’re doing is, how are you citizens doing. How do they feel. Can they pay their bills. Can they take the trips. Can they travel. “Where are they, with respect to just day-to-day confidence in the community around them, — (are they) not fearful that someone’s going to come in with a gun and shoot, or not fearful that you can’t walk at night outdoors, and those kinds of things.”