Political analyst Mark Halperin said Monday that it is unreasonable for Democrats and the media to avoid discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in her loss to President-elect Donald Trump.
Harris, who suspended her 2020 presidential campaign in December 2019, lost both the Electoral College and popular vote to Trump in 2024. Halperin, on “Newsline,” argued the way Harris lost each time raises doubts about her viability as a future presidential candidate.
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“I think that there’s been a fair amount of debate about why the Democrats think they lost the race. Very little of it has pointed to her, and I think that’s partly because the people around her are loyal and they don’t want to help people write those stories, tell those stories,” Halperin said. “But I think it’s ridiculous, given her performance, for people to remove from the equation the question of, is she a good person at running for president?”
“She’s now run twice and done poorly both times, and I think it’s incumbent upon the media and Democrats — have an honest and fair discussion about whether this is the right role for her, because she’s 0 for 2 in pretty dramatic fashion,” he continued.
Harris dropped out in 2020 days after The New York Times obtained a resignation from a former staffer who claimed she had “never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly.” The then-senator was initially perceived as a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, and even became the odds on favorite in June 2019 following the first primary debate.
However, Harris’ 2020 campaign rapidly unraveled in the months after, and by October 2019 had widespread staff layoffs in the critical early state of New Hampshire.
The short 2024 race between Harris and Trump remained consistently tight in the battleground states, according to polling. However, the vice president ultimately lost all seven swing states, securing just 226 electoral votes, over 74.5 million votes and roughly 48.25% of the total as of Monday afternoon, according to the Cook Political report.
Harris is directing her aides to maintain her political flexibility as she weighs whether to make another run for the White House in 2028 or for California governor in 2026, five people in Harris’ inner circle told Politico.
“She is not someone who makes rash decisions,” Brian Brokaw, a former Harris aide who has remained close to her circle, told the outlet. “She takes, sometimes, a painfully long time to make decisions. So I would pretty much guarantee you she has no idea what her next move is.”
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America
