Kamala Harris declared the U.S. political system "broken" and announced she will not seek elected office in the foreseeable future, citing what she called institutional collapse and widespread "capitulation" among officials during President Trump's second administration. Speaking with CBS's Stephen Colbert in her first interview since her 2024 presidential loss, the former vice president said she had considered running for California governor but ultimately decided against reentering politics.
"That has been my career and recently I made the decision that I, just for now, I don't want to go back in the system. I think it's broken," Harris said on The Late Show. "I always believed that, as fragile as our democracy is, our systems would be strong enough to defend our most fundamental principles, and I think right now, that they're not as strong as they need to be."
Harris, who is releasing a book in September titled 107 Days about her last-minute campaign after President Biden dropped out, expressed deep disillusionment with the political establishment, particularly in the face of what she sees as democratic backsliding under Trump.
"What I did not predict was the capitulation," she said. "Perhaps it's naive of me... but I believed that on some level, there are many, there should be many, who consider themselves to be guardians of our system and our democracy who just capitulated."
The former Democratic nominee refused to identify a single leader of the Democratic Party, instead emphasizing shared responsibility: "It's a mistake for us... to put it on the shoulders of any one person. It's really on all of our shoulders."
Harris said she now intends to travel the country and engage with Americans in a non-electoral capacity. "I want to listen to people. I want to talk with people. And I don't want it to be transactional where I'm asking for their vote."
Asked about Trump's recent policy initiatives, including proposed Medicaid cuts and the downsizing of the Department of Education, Harris denounced what she sees as Congressional complacency. They “are just sitting on their hands," she said.
The vice president admitted to avoiding the news for months after her election loss. "I'm just not into self-mutilation," Harris told Colbert, adding she spent time watching cooking shows such as The Kitchen.
