Failed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is trying to manifest her own destiny — insisting this week that she remains a top leader in the Democratic Party, despite November’s devastating loss and perception as a back stabber for shuffling her boss out of the race.
“I was the Democratic nominee for president,” the former vice president told the Wall Street Journal Friday. “I came close to winning. Of course I do.”
Harris – who was in Philadelphia plugging her new book “107 Days” about the 2024 loss to now President Donald Trump, declined to say whether the tour is the start of a political comeback that includes running for president in 2028.
But insiders told the Journal that the book — and critical reaction to it– shows that Harris’ leadership is faltering in the party.
Some longtime supporters told the outlet they are ready to move on from Harris, while more vocal Dems are openly airing their frustrations with Harris’s re-emergence — especially her book, which is critical of ex-President Joe Biden and her pool of choices for a running mate, before settling on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
In her tome, she characterized Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as overly ambitious and ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is gay, as someone who’d be politically risky running alongside a black woman.
Ashley Etienne, Harris’ former communications director, called the ex-veep’s book a a missed opportunity for not focusing on the Biden administration’s accomplishments and her role in them as the first female vice president.
“I would have advised her to write a different book, one that cements her legacy,” Etienne told The Journal.
Faiz Shakir, who ran Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, said the book affirms concerns people had about Harris.
“Her campaign struggled with being a campaign of conviction, of clarity, of deep, principled positions,” Shakir said.
“It’s a sign of weak leadership to just start blaming these kind of outside actors for your own shortcomings. It hurts the Democratic Party.”
Harris, however, insisted she didn’t write tell-all book, claiming “it’s about just presenting people with a journal of my experience running for president of the United States.”
Harris’ biggest liability on the national stage remains how she stayed mum as Biden’s mental health plummeted month after month.
In her book, Harris notes Biden “got tired,” but said, “I don’t believe it was incapacity. If I believed that, I would have said so. As loyal as I am to President Biden, I am more loyal to my country.”
Harris recently angered the growing far left contingent in her party by failing to mention socialist Zohran Mamdani by name in an MSNBC interview, instead saying she supports “the Democrat” in the race for NYC mayor.
In the Journal interview, Harris was more definitive, saying “No, I did endorse Mamdani,”
When asked about the growing tensions within the moderate and far-left wings of her party playing out in the Big Apple and elsewhere, Harris added, “There is a lot of consensus around the priorities of this moment, and that’s where I’m focused.”
Th ex-veep signed with A-list talent agency Creative Artists Agency in February to represent her in speaking and publishing engagements and is demanding $250,000 a speech, sources told the outlet.
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