Harris Memoir Sparks 2028 Jockeying, Criticizes Biden

Kamala Harris’s memoir 107 Days says she regrets not privately challenging Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, calling her silence “recklessness” and saying she hesitated partly because opposing him might have appeared self‑serving after her 2020 primary challenge. Harris writes that aspects of Biden’s unpopularity — including what she described as his “perceived blank check to Netanyahu in Gaza” and an inability to show the same empathy to Gazan civilians as he did to Ukrainians — undermined her short 2024 presidential bid, and she says she “pleaded” with Biden to adopt more empathetic rhetoric toward innocent Palestinians while still affirming Israel’s right to respond to the Oct. 7 attacks. She recounts internal campaign dynamics — staff often deferring with “it’s Joe and Jill’s decision,” short timelines that affected choices such as passing on Pete Buttigieg as a running mate, and reluctance from several top Democrats to immediately endorse after Biden dropped out — and says Biden, at 81, “got tired,” contributing to the campaign’s debate collapse. The memoir and Harris’s media tour have prompted public pushback and early jockeying for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, drawing responses from potential rivals including Pete Buttigieg and Josh Shapiro. Her TV interviews included a disputed claim that the 2024 race was “the closest presidential election in the 21st century,” which fact‑checkers challenged, and conservative commentators have framed the tour as a rehabilitation effort and criticized her interview performances. Harris said she will not run for California governor now and has downplayed immediate political plans.