Kamala Harris is back… and she is here to stay?
Six weeks after losing the 2024 election to Donald Trump, the vice president addressed Democrats at a holiday reception in Washington, D.C., over the weekend and encouraged them to keep the faith in the way only Kamala Harris can. The appearance coincided with new reports about whether the VP will run for office again.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of 2WAY’s Morning Meeting – Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine – to discuss Harris’ return to the podium and what the future holds.
Harris Speaks
Harris joined President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Committee’s holiday party on Sunday to thank staffers and members for their work on her failed presidential campaign. It also served as an opportunity to rally the troops ahead of Trump taking office next month.
While this speech did not elicit the same “wine aunt” comparisons as the bizarre Thanksgiving video circulated by the DNC last month, it was full of the profundities and word salads we have come to expect from the vie president. A few highlights:
HARRIS: …So look, the holiday season is one of my favorite times of year – that and my birthday [laughs] and our in our wedding anniversary [motions to Doug Emhoff], of course [laughs]. I’m just gonna keep digging this whole deeper, deeper…
HARRIS: …It is so important this holiday season to remember we all have so much to celebrate…
HARRIS: …We have ideals that we’re very clear about in terms of their importance and the importance of us fighting for those ideals…
HARRIS: …We know that fighting for the promise of America takes hard work. Now, you all can help me finish this. Many of you have heard me say it: We like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. And in the new year, we will continue our work with hope, with determination, and with joy…
HARRIS: …Let us celebrate the blessings we have. Let us celebrate, in advance, the blessings we have yet to create…
Halperin joked that “every syllable” of Harris’ speech was “calculated to drive [Megyn] insane.” Megyn confirmed that it was successful in that regard and said it was “classic Kamala” from the jump.
“The opening of, like, ‘the holidays are such a special time of year to me.’ Hello! That is how almost everybody feels. She is classic for taking something that is a completely banal statement and trying to make it sound special,” Megyn noted. “And then she mentions ‘my birthday’ and ‘our anniversary’… This is not funny material… That is not how people think… I don’t know what it is, but she is just off socially.”
Harris 2026 or 2028?
While Spicer quipped that he was grateful to be “unburdened” by what has been when it comes to Harris, he said he is “throwing my full and complete endorsement behind Kamala Harris for governor of California or president in 2028 – whichever she wants.”
Turrentine, who is a former Democratic strategist, did not second the motion. Unlike Trump or Ronald Reagan who ran for president three (or more) times with consistent policy positions, Turrentine said Harris has been “the definition of inconsistent.” He noted that she was “very progressive” in her failed run in 2020 but transitioned to, “in her telling, a moderate” in 2024.
“The best thing that ever happened to her was not having a primary because she would have had to have picked a moderate or liberal position on issue after issue in a primary and explain why she had changed her positions or not changed her positions,” he noted. “Last time that happened [in 2019], she didn’t even make it to Iowa.”
Harris also has a popularity problem. “She has no real power base within the party that you would say is a formidable block… She didn’t raise $1.5 billion this time around. The opponent of Donald Trump raised $1.5 billion, and that happened to be her,” Turrentine explained. “The grassroots were not in love with her. Major donors were not in love with her… So, I think whether she runs for president or governor, she would face a lot of challengers and I would not be confident – if I were her – that she would be victorious.”
Much like Megyn, Turrentine has been surprised that there has been “very little talk since the election about her as a candidate” and “the fact that she was indecisive, cautious, and kind of playing not to make a mistake” because those are the same weaknesses that “brought her down in 2019.”
Megyn believes the silence will last only as long as Harris stays out of the spotlight. “If she skulks off into the night, they will keep their fingers off the keyboards,” she speculated. “But if she’s like, ‘I think I might be the one for 2028’… they are going to start pummeling her.”
Ultimately, Halperin had this to say on Harris’ future prospects. “I think her chances of being governor of California are greater than being the Democratic nominee, but I don’t think they are as great as people say,” he concluded. “Again, her challenge is her weakness. She does not like to make difficult choices under pressure, and that is the job description for running for governor of California and being governor of California, running for president and being president.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Halperin, Spicer, and Turrentine by tuning in to episode 967 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.