Kamala Harris is actively setting the stage for another run at the White House—and she’s equipped herself with a new message.
All signs point to the 61-year-old Democrat preparing to enter the 2028 presidential race, just over a year after her loss to Donald Trump.
In a speech to Democratic officials in Los Angeles on Friday, Harris railed against “both parties,” unveiling a new line of attack in a marked shift from last year’s campaign, which drew criticism for staying too closely aligned with then-President Joe Biden.
“Both parties have failed to hold the public’s trust,” the former vice president said, according to Axios. “Government is viewed as fundamentally unable to meet the needs of its people… People are done with the status quo and they’re ready to break things to force change.”
Harris argued that Trump, 79, is a “symptom” of a bigger problem. “We cannot afford to be nostalgic for a flawed system that failed so many,” she said.
There are worries among Democratic Party leaders and donors that Harris—who lost all swing states in 2024—can’t win in 2028, according to Axios.
But when she and her husband, Doug Emhoff, appeared at a reception for the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting on Wednesday, DNC Chair Ken Martin quipped that Emhoff, 61, could be the future first gentleman, Axios reported, citing people who heard the remarks.
The next day, Harris spoke at the annual gala for United Farm Workers, where she was met with “enthusiastic applause,” according to Axios.
In July, Harris announced she would not run for governor of California in 2026 following months of deliberation. Asked about a future presidential run in October, she said, “I am not done.”
Harris—who will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday—is sure to encounter a crowded Democratic field, and early polling shows her trailing California Governor Gavin Newsom in voters’ current preferences for the party’s nomination.
Newsom, 58, topped a Yale Youth Poll list with 25 percent support, followed by Harris at 18 percent support, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 16 percent. Tensions between Harris and Newsom have mounted in the past few months.
In Harris’s memoir, 107 Days, which chronicled her fast-tracked 2024 campaign and rankled Democratic colleagues for airing dirty laundry, she revealed that Newsom never returned her call on the day former President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
“Hiking. Will call back,” he texted at the time. He later endorsed her as the Democratic nominee.
Newsom said in October during a video game stream that he reached out to ask why she included that anecdote in the book. Harris wrote back: “On book tour. Get back to you later.”
Harris spokesperson Kirsten Allen told Axios that Harris “will approach 2026 with the same commitment that anchored 2025—listening to the American people, reflecting where leadership has fallen short, and helping shape the path forward beyond this political moment.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Harris’s office for comment.
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