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Former Vice President Kamala Harris waded into New York City politics Monday night, endorsing Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani for mayor and giving the democratic socialist candidate his biggest boost yet from the party establishment.
The endorsement came during Harris’ first major TV interview since losing the 2024 election to President Donald Trump, and it was timed to promote her new book, “107 Days,” a memoir about last year’s campaign. Speaking with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Harris was asked what she thought of Mamdani’s candidacy—and why so many top Democrats have been slow to back him after he beat disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary.
“Look, as far as I’m concerned, he’s the Democratic nominee and he should be supported,” Harris said.
Maddow pressed her: “Do you endorse his candidacy?”
“I support the Democrat in the race, sure,” Harris replied, not mentioning Mamdani’s name. She quickly pivoted, saying, “He’s not the only star” running for office. Harris highlighted candidates like Barbara Drummond, who is running for mayor of Mobile, Alabama, as also worthy of major attention.
Harris’ remarks stood out because other top Democrats—including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who would both be Mamdani’s constituents if he wins—have either kept their distance or opposed him outright. Even as Mamdani dominates recent polls, moderate Democrats worry his democratic-socialist label will give Republicans ammo to paint the entire party as too far left and hurt them in next year’s midterm elections.
Progressives, however, have rallied around Mamdani. He has secured endorsements from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Harris’ nod should give him a boost heading into November.
Harris’ interview made headlines for more than just the mayor’s race, though. Maddow also asked whether Harris was considering a 2028 presidential run.
“That’s not my focus right now,” Harris said. “That’s not my focus at all. It really isn’t.”
When Maddow pressed, asking whether Harris’s decision not to run for governor of California in 2026 meant she would never run for office again, Harris sidestepped the question again.
“That was the decision before me, and I made the decision not to run for governor of California,” she said.
On the governor’s race, she added, “By the way, there are a lot of great candidates running, and I love my state. We want somebody to definitely follow in the footsteps of [current Gov.] Gavin [Newsom], in terms of standing up and understanding the power that California has to stand up to what we’re seeing in D.C.”
Harris also weighed in on ABC’s decision to bring Jimmy Kimmel back on the air after public backlash to the company’s suspension of his show.
“Talk about the power being with the people and the people making that clear with their checkbooks as it relates to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel,” she said. “We saw the power of the people over the last few days, and it spoke volumes. And it moved a decision in the right direction.”
She did not hold back when talking about Trump. Calling him a “tyrant,” Harris accused the president of “abusing the power that the people vested him with,” blasting corporations like Disney for giving in to FCC pressure when they pulled Kimmel’s show.
“I always believed that if push came to shove, those titans of industry would be guardrails for our democracy, for the importance of sustaining democratic institutions,” Harris said. “And one by one by one, they have been silent. They have been … feckless. It’s not like they’re going to lose their yacht or their house in the Hamptons.”
Maddow also pressed her on her relationship with Biden. Harris writes in “107 Days” that Biden’s decision to seek reelection was driven by “recklessness”—and she told Maddow she takes some responsibility.
“So when I write this, it’s because I realize that I have and had a certain responsibility that I should have followed through on,” she said. “And so when I talk about the recklessness, as much as anything, I’m talking about myself.”
Harris doesn’t shy away from drama in the book. She reveals that her top choice for vice president wasn’t Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz but was instead then-Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg—and that she ultimately passed on him because she feared Americans wouldn’t accept a ticket with both a Black woman and a gay man.
“We were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man,” Harris wrote. Attaching a gay man to the ticket “was too big a risk,” she added.
Expect more headlines as Harris continues her book tour. “107 Days” is already causing a stir—and Harris seems in no mood to stay quiet.
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Alex Samuels
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