Washington: Donna Brazile, the former interim head of the Democratic National Committee, says in a new book that she considered replacing Hillary Clinton as the party's 2016 nominee with Vice President Joe Biden after Clinton suffered a fainting spell, according to an account published by The Washington Post.

In her book, Brazile writes of her frequent frustrations with the Clinton campaign, saying she would tell its leaders that she could invoke powers from the DNC charter to oversee the process of replacing a nominee if she were to become disabled, something that has never happened in the modern era of presidential elections.

Donna Brazile, interim chair of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Credit:AP

"Again and again I thought about Joe Biden," she wrote, adding that "no matter my doubts and my fears about the election and Hillary as a candidate, I could not make good on that threat to replace her." The Post reported that Brazile had considered replacing Clinton after she briefly collapsed in New York City following a Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony.

Howard Dean, a former DNC chairman, said Saturday on MSNBC that Brazile would have had no power to unilaterally remove or replace Clinton.