By New York Post (Politics) | Created at 2025-01-24 19:06:16 | Updated at 2025-01-25 00:43:41
5 hours ago
Kamala Harris abruptly left DC for her native California the day after grimacing her way through Donald Trump’s inauguration, clad in a black funeral-esque suit.
Safely back in La-La land, the now-jobless former VP can process the first major defeat of her career.
No doubt still stewing over her loss, the crosshairs of blame are sure to be pointed at former President Joe Biden, accused of dropping out of the race too late. Also Trump, for his attacks, and even her own husband, Doug Emhoff, whose past indiscretions brought wave after wave of embarrassment to her campaign.
Harris’ truncated campaign has been criticized for being elitist and out of touch with its celebrity-packed concerts, and for her being inaccessible, not saying what she thinks and talking in word salads. However, she has never acknowledged those shortcomings, nor did it seem to strike anyone close to her until much too late.
A source who worked alongside the Harris campaign told The Post she never had a backup plan for losing the election, as “even up until six, seven p.m. on election night they felt very confident she would become President.”
Retreating back behind the Democrat power circles Harris has spent her career may not be her best move. Those around her on the West Coast remain so out-of-touch with voters, they refuse to acknowledge Harris’ monumental defeat ruins her chances of running again.
“If she wants to be president, she will start her campaign next year. She’s well positioned to run again,” said the source.
In the more fickle Washington, the postmortem is a lot starker.
“She is done in DC and quite frankly was the worst major candidate of either party since Michael Dukakis,” said one senior congressional Democratic source.
Another insider felt Harris never got the necessary momentum to win over her party, let alone voters.
“She was a mid vice president. No big screwups, but not a shining star. I think we need to move past Kamala Harris to a new generation of leaders in the Democratic Party,” an ex-Harris campaign source told The Post.
The presidential loss is the biggest blow to her career yet, after being on an upward trajectory ever since she joined the Oakland District Attorney’s office in the early 90s and receiving unbridled support from her much older then-lover, Democratic party kingmaker Willie Brown.
Harris is now reportedly weighing whether to run for Governor of California in 2026 or prepare for another presidential run in 2028.
In another out-of-touch-with-reality move, for advice Harris has been consulting with Hillary Clinton – another presidential race loser, in the 2016 race against Trump – about what to do next, according to New York Magazine, who claimed the pair has spoken several times since the defeat.
“Harris could break one glass ceiling and do the near impossible of turning California red if she chooses to run for Governor governor in 2028,” quipped the congressional source.
However, the potential governor field is already starting to get crowded – with a host of opponents who haven’t just lost on a national scale.
“There are about five credible candidates for California governor right now, including Rick Caruso.
“Los Angeles is full of virtue signalers but a lot of them may be having second thoughts about [ultra-progressive] politicians like Harris, given the wildfires,” a former Los Angeles District Attorney still in local politics told The Post.
In a rare public comment since losing on Jan. 17, Harris said only: “It is not my nature to go quietly into the night,” and declined to elaborate further.
However, four days later she was forced to do just that. A planned “farewell tour” taking in Singapore, Bahrain and Germany was canceled, apparently due to the Los Angeles wildfires.
Rather than presidents, the former VP found herself shaking hands with local firefighters and volunteers as well as distributing food to people who lost their homes to Southern California’s Eaton fire.
However, Harris’ photo op was already too late. Aviator-clad governor Gavin Newsom effectively launched his 2028 presidential campaign by flying into the LA frontlines and pressing the flesh. His visit gained him attention, even if it largely backfired due to a series of blunders, such as pretending to be on the phone to Biden to avoid one irate resident taking him to task.
The wildfires even threatened Harris’ own home in the tony Brentwood neighborhood, where she’s been hiding out with Emhoff since returning to the West.
Rumors have also been circulating about the state of their 10 year marriage since the election, after he declared himself a “wife guy” only for it to emerge he had been hiding a shady past.
“He looked like a hypocritical ass after the bombshells that he had got his child’s nanny pregnant while married to his first wife and assaulted his ex-girlfriend on the heels of his ‘I am woman’ crusade,’” a source told the Daily Mail.
Emhoff has denied allegations of assault against his ex. He has never denied an affair or pregnancy with his children’s onetime nanny, Najen Naylor, though he said when the news broke: “During my first marriage, Kerstin [his first wife] and I went through some tough times on account of my actions.”
The couple’s move back — replete with Secret Service entourage in tow — hasn’t been met witha lot of “joy,” the mantra she espoused as her message on the campaign trail.
“I’m embarrassed that she lives here, and I’m embarrassed that she represented the United States,” one real estate investor neighbor who identified himself by first name, Lewis, told The Post.
In another sign of the turning tides in California, he added: “[LA Mayor] Karen Bass, Gavin Newsom, they’ve destroyed my state. Kamala Harris will do exactly the same. I’d rather she find another state to destroy,” he said.
Perhaps Harris’ best immediate move would be to continue to keep a low profile, as she did after the election results came in on Nov. 5th. She first went to Hawaii for a vacation mid-November, according to local reports, before returning to Washington and attending a few galas and hosting holiday parties and black-tie dinners through the end of the year.
One source who has been in Harris’ orbit and saw her at the inauguration feels it would be best if she just called it quits.
“She’s a fake and a fraud. I mean retire for God’s sake. Let some other people take a stab at life,” the source said.
“I don’t see her getting a warm welcome back in California. She’s going to have to move to Montecito and become Meghan Markle’s neighbor. They have a lot in common. They’re both has-beens.”
