Harris Details Critical Moments From Early Presidential Campaign in New Memoir
WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris recounts a series of pivotal moments during the initial 107 days of her 2020 presidential campaign in her forthcoming memoir, offering a candid look at challenges faced and lessons learned as she navigated a crowded Democratic primary. The book details specific instances that shaped her strategy and public perception, revealing the intense pressure and scrutiny she experienced while vying for the nomination. Thes early experiences, Harris argues, where formative in preparing her for the vice presidency.
The period between January and April 2020 proved crucial for establishing Harris as a viable candidate, but also exposed vulnerabilities that opponents quickly exploited. Her account highlights three key moments – a fundraising stumble, a contentious exchange on The View, and immediate attacks from then-President Donald Trump – that tested her campaign’s resilience and forced a recalibration of her messaging. Understanding these early trials provides insight into the strategic decisions that ultimately led to her selection as Joe Biden‘s running mate and, later, to the White House.
one early setback centered around fundraising. Harris describes an initial struggle to meet aspiring financial goals, realizing the need to aggressively court donors and build a robust fundraising operation. She acknowledges a miscalculation in assuming her profile alone would generate sufficient support,prompting a shift towards more proactive outreach and targeted fundraising events.
A particularly damaging moment, as detailed in the memoir, occurred during a July 12, 2019 appearance on ABC’s The View. When asked what she would have done differently than Joe Biden, Harris responded, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” She now characterizes the answer as a critical error in judgment, stating, “Everything about my appearance on The View was going well. Until it wasn’t.” The remark quickly drew criticism and became fodder for attacks, particularly from the Trump campaign, which used it in advertisements to portray her as overly loyal to Biden and lacking self-reliant vision. Harris writes that the response was “a gift to the Trump campaign, and they used it in ad after ad to shackle me to an unpopular president.”
Following the The View appearance, President Trump swiftly condemned Harris’s answer, labeling it “her dumbest answer so far” and accusing her of being “exposed as a ‘dummy’ every time she does a show.” this direct assault underscored the intensity of the scrutiny she faced and the immediate political consequences of perceived missteps. Harris recounts that her staff was “beside themselves” in the wake of the backlash, recognizing the potential for lasting damage to her campaign.