When the 49th Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris called, Scott Evans, the host of the YouTube interview show “House Guest,” answered in disbelief.
“I was literally gobsmacked,” Evans tells The Times. “I wanted to make sure she felt the love and that we were ready to discuss anything she wanted.”
In its short-lived history, the Webby Award-winning, self-funded show has welcomed comedian Leslie Jones, Oscar winner Regina King and actor Keke Palmer. On Thursday, Evans entertained a guest with secret service stature.
During her visit, Harris discusses her book “107 Days,” which entails her experience as a presidential candidate during the 2024 election. She revealed to Evans he was the first person she discussed the book with outside of her team.
The housewarming vibes set the tone for a conversation that allowed Harris to speak with comfort and embrace emojis, a delicacy she had been without during her time in the White House.
As they discussed her book, Evans and Harris shared a cheese and anchovies pizza. The host made the choice to commemorate the day she found out President Joe Biden was going to drop out of the race for the house on Pennsylvania Avenue.
“The first day you found out that Joe Biden was not going to be running for reelection and that you got the go-ahead,” Evans said, “cheese pizza with anchovies is where you went.”
Harris reveals she found out Biden was going to drop out of the presidential race while playing with her niece’s daughters. She was in her sweatpants, with her hair in a ponytail, when the unexpected call went through.
“This is really happening and the only people staffing me are both under 4 feet tall,” Harris said. “My little baby nieces … firsthand witnesses to history.”
She recalls her team coming together immediately and turning her dining table from a breakfast setting to business. Work for her campaign began and as the day elongated and dinner time passed, they ordered pizza, including one with cheese and anchovies.
In her book, Harris calls the day she certified the election one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do. As vice president and president of the senate, it was her responsibility to confirm the election on Jan. 6, a date in infamy after the insurrection that took place on the same date in 2021. Evans asked her if there was ever a moment in which she didn’t want to take the high road.
“It was nonnegotiable in my mind that I would stand there and give it the process, the dignity that it deserves of showing what leadership should be about, which is a peaceful transfer of power,” Harris said.
“I was not going to let them, in any way, compromise every reason that I ran for president, which is that I do believe in the importance of the rule of law,” she added.
After conceding the election, Harris tells Evans she grieved and experienced emotions that resembled those she felt when her mother died.
“I choose not to allow circumstances or individuals disempower my spirit,” she added as an emotional Evans added: “If you can say that, if you can really believe that, then there are so many others of us who can feel confident in that as well.”
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