Former Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Monday for her first interview since her loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Harris, 60, didn’t hold back, calling her Republican opponent a "tyrant" and lambasted American CEOs for, what she deemed, capitulation to Trump.
"I worked closely with the private sector over many years, and 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, you know, yes, I use the word feckless."
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 2025. (Camille Cohen / AFP) (Photo by CAMILLE COHEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Harris ridiculed the idea that the billionaire class would lose their yacht or their house in the Hamptons if they spoke out against Trump. She argued that capitalism thrives better under democracy than under authoritarian regimes.
Left: President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House on June 05, 2025 in Washington, DC; Right: Vice President Kamala Harris pauses as she speaks at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 2025 (Left: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images;; Right: CAMILLE COHEN/AFP via Getty Images)
"Democracy sustains capitalism. Capitalism thrives in a democracy. And right now, we are dealing with – as I called him at my speech on the ellipse – a tyrant. We used to compare the strength of our democracy to communist dictators. That's what we're dealing with right now under Donald Trump. And these titans of industry are not speaking up," she said.
Harris said she understood their hesitancy to speak out against the president, noting that his administration has gone after his critics.
U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris stand together at the White House ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
"But at some point, they’ve got to stand up for the sake of the people who rely on all of these institutions to have integrity and to at some point be the guardrails against a tyrant who is using the federal government to execute his whim and fancy because of a fragile ego," Harris said.
Monday night’s interview on MSNBC came a day before the release of her new book, "107 Days," which will recount her tumultuous experience replacing former President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after he dropped out of the race.