Anger and soul-searching took hold of the Democratic Party after Vice President Kamala Harris suffered an election loss that left some party officials and voters dumbfounded, Reuters reports.

Harris was the self-styled underdog against her Republican rival, Donald Trump, having joined the race barely three months ago, but the nature of her loss has some Democrats asking questions about the future of the party.

The sharpest criticism contained accusations that the party had lied to its supporters about President Joe Biden’s mental fitness until a disastrous TV debate with Trump in June raised alarm bells and ultimately led to the president exiting the race.

One Democratic donor asked: “Why did Joe Biden hold on for as long as he did? He should have not concealed his (health) and dropped out a lot sooner.” Biden, 81, has said privately he thought he was the only Democrat who could beat Trump, and vowed publicly that he was fit to be president for another four years.

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