Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that one of the main reasons she lost the 2024 presidential election to President Trump was that she “didn’t have enough time” to mount an effective campaign.“There are many factors, I think, that played into the outcome of that election, but I think probably one of the biggest in my mind is we just didn’t have enough time,” Harris said during an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” responding to co-host Ana Navarro’s question about the primary reason for her defeat.Harris, promoting her new book, 107 Days, pointed to former President Joe Biden’s late exit from the race in July 2024 as a critical factor. “Biden decides not to run. The sitting vice president then takes the mantle, running against a former president of the United States who had been running for ten years, with 107 days until the election,” she said, describing her campaign as “unprecedented.”She characterised the contest as “the closest presidential race in the 21st century.” Despite spending $1.5 billion over 15 weeks, her campaign lost the popular vote, the Electoral College, and all seven swing states to Trump.Harris also reflected on a gaffe during an October 2024 interview on “The View,” which she says harmed her campaign. When asked whether she would have done anything differently than Biden, she replied: “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” In her memoir, Harris explained she had a prepared answer: “I’m not Joe Biden and I’m certainly not Donald Trump. But to specifically answer your question, throughout my career I have worked with Democrats, independents, and Republicans, and I know that great ideas come from all places. If I’m president, I would appoint a Republican to my cabinet.”She said she did not deliver that response at the time. “I had no idea I’d just pulled the pin on a hand grenade. Stationed at various places around the set, my staff were beside themselves,” Harris wrote. A staffer later handed her a note during a commercial break instructing her to clarify her point, but she said, “the damage was done,” calling the incident a “gift to the Trump campaign” used to “shackle me to an unpopular president.”Harris further criticised Biden’s timing in leaving the race. “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 … and so, when I talk about the recklessness, as much as anything, I’m talking about myself,” she said on MSNBC Tuesday. She described Biden’s decision to wait until late July as “recklessness” that put her in a difficult position.In her memoir, Harris also predicted how Trump might act in a second term and expressed concern over corporate leaders’ silence, which she said stems from fear of the president’s threats.
