Despite her failed 2024 presidential run, former vice president Kamala Harris says Americans haven’t seen the last of her.
“We can’t go out there and do battle if we don’t take care of ourselves and each other. I’ll see you out there. I’m not going anywhere,” Harris said Thursday during a rare public appearance since she lost the November election.
During the speech before the Leading Women Defined Summit in Dana Point, Calif., Harris didn’t say whether she intends to run for a specific political office in the near future, though she’s reportedly weighing whether to enter the race for California governor. She has set a deadline for the end of summer to decide whether to enter the race to replace term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom in 2026, according to Politico.
If the former California senator decides to run for governor, she’ll be joining a deep field of competitors that includes former California Attorney General and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Democratic Representative Katie Porter, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, former State Controller Betty Yee, former state legislator Toni Atkins, and state schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond.
Harris went on to say there is a “sense of fear that is taking hold in our country.”
“These are the things that we are witnessing each day in these last few months in our country, and it understandably creates a great sense of fear,” she said. “Because, you know, there were many things that we knew would happen, many things.”
“We’re seeing people stay quiet. We are seeing organizations stay quiet. We are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly unconstitutional threats. And these are the things we are witnessing. Each day in the last few months in our country,” she said..
“I’m not here to say I told you so,” Harris said, laughing with the audience. “I swear, I wasn’t going to say that.”
Harris’s rare public appearance comes as a new book indicates Harris was blindsided by her November loss to Trump because she “bought the hype” that she would win.
“She was completely shocked, and [Harris’ running mate] Tim Walz was shocked,” The Hill reporter Amie Parnes said on the podcast Somebody’s Gotta Win with Tara Palmeri.