Vice President Kamala Harris recently said she is ready to assume the presidency if President Joe Biden becomes ill. Given that the president is 80 years old and will turn 81 in November, questions about his age and fitness abound. Harris’ remarks come amid polls showing that most Americans, including a majority of Democratic voters, believe Biden is too old to serve a second term.

During a Wednesday interview, Harris not only claimed she was ready to take on the presidency but also assured the public that, despite his age, President Biden remains fit to execute his duties. “Well, first of all, let’s — I’m answering your hypothetical, but Joe Biden is going to be fine. So that is not going to come to fruition,” she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris said during an interview Wednesday that she was ready to fulfill her constitutional duty to assume the presidency should President Biden be unable to govern as questions swirl around his health and age.

Biden, who is 80 and is turning 81 in November, continues to be the oldest serving president in U.S. history. Should Democrats win again in 2024, he will be 82 before he is sworn into a potential second term and would be 86 at the end of it. Harris described the idea of possibly stepping into the role of president as "hypothetical" but said she was ready.

"Joe Biden is going to be fine, so that is not going to come to fruition," Harris told The Associated Press in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she was attending a regional summit. "But let us also understand that every vice president — every vice president — understands that when they take the oath they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president."

She added, "I’m no different."

The potential for Harris to take over the presidency if something happens to Biden would be a double-edged sword, fraught with both opportunity and possible peril. It could carry tremendous ramifications for the public’s perception of her, which hasn’t been all that favorable since she took office. Polling continually shows dismal approval ratings for her performance as vice president.

However, if she has to take the reins for an extended period of time, and nothing catastrophic happens, it might just work to her benefit. If she were to have no major issues during her stint in the Oval Office, it could bring about a political resurrection of sorts. Perhaps if it comes to it, this could potentially position her as the presidential candidate for 2024 if Biden is unable, unwilling, or unaware enough to continue making a mess of things in the White House.

There is also a flip side. What if she gets into the captain’s seat and fouls things up even worse than her boss? If a serious problem arises, or existing problems get worse under her watch, she will sustain irreversible damage to her political prospects if she does not handle them competently. It would only solidify the negative perception people already have of her and could doom any future political aspirations. To put it simply, she probably wouldn’t be able to be elected as dogcatcher if this happens.

It is worth noting that, in her role as vice president, Harris has already turned in a rather underwhelming performance, which could indicate that the same would be true if Biden has to take a break. In light of this, Democrats had better hope against hope that nothing happens to the president. It could spell disaster for the party in general.