Kamala Harris has reentered the chat with new accents, new word salads, and, remarkably, a potential new lease on her political life.
The failed 2024 Democrat presidential nominee told Al Sharpton at his National Action Network conference earlier this month she is “thinking about” another run for the White House (it’s also the event where she debuted her eyebrow-raising “mob boss” impression), and the early numbers seem to be on her side.
The RealClearPolitics average has Harris as the clear frontrunner in the 2028 Democratic primary race. She is in first place at 26.9 percent, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 18.9 percent, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 10.7 percent, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) at 7.9 percent. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly round out the list with 6.8 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.
So, could we see Harris at the top of another ticket in 2028? On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Stephen A. Smith, host of The Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM, to discuss the possibility and what the polling really reveals about the state of the Democrat Party.
The Polls
While a lot can happen between now and 2028, the polling is certainly in the former vice president’s favor. She has steadily gained support, leading seven of the last nine polls and up by double digits in the two most recent. Newsom, meanwhile, has widely been viewed as the person to beat, but he has not topped a poll since February.
“Here is what is interesting about it: Gavin Newsom has universal name recognition, too… Everybody knows who Gavin Newsom… He has been ubiquitous this past couple of years,” Megyn noted. “So, she is crushing him notwithstanding the fact that they both have universal name recognition and the Democrats know she is an idiot.”
So despite having to drop out of the 2020 Democrat primary before a single vote was cast and blowing a billion dollars in 107 days only to get walloped by Donald Trump in the 2024 election, Megyn joked that she just might get her “biggest” wish.
“I may get my biggest wish, my birthday wish, my wish at New Year’s Day, and Kamala Harris may be the Democratic nominee again. It’s amazing,” she marveled. “How great would it be to watch a J.D. Vance or a Marco Rubio have a one-on-one debate with Kamala Harris?”
Kamala on Gas Prices
Harris is certainly acting like someone who knows she is in a good spot. She is currently visiting the Carolinas under the guise of the longest book tour known to man. But Wednesday night she posted a video on X not about her book but about gas prices.
Rocking a signature pain suit in the parking lot of a gas station in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the price of regular unleaded gas was $3.97 a gallon and the price of Diesel was $5.79, Harris played fast and loose with the facts in the visibly edited 30-second video.
“Since the start of Trump’s war of choice, it’s 15 more dollars every time you fill up your tank of gas. The price of Diesel has now gone up 80 percent since the start of the war, and you best believe that’s going to carry over to how much you’re paying for all the goods that are being transported on those semis,” Harris said. “We’ve got a president who is paying more attention to what he thinks is in his best political interest and personal interest, as opposed to what is in the best interest of working people in America.”
Megyn said the message is rich coming from Harris, especially when she couldn’t even get the numbers right. “Diesel is up less than 50 percent, not 80,” she noted. “But is Kamala Harris really trying to make us believe she suddenly cares about gas prices? You want to talk about record-setting gas prices? That’s when you were the sitting vice president. It happened at the height of the Ukraine War in June of 2022 when regular gas climbed to $5.02 a gallon and Diesel got up to $5.82.”
“And you were fine with that because you were trying, actively, to decimate the oil and gas business. You made it very clear… In fact, when they were at that peak back in 2022… you lectured us that somehow it was our civic duty to suck that up,” Megyn added. “So, you can’t have it both ways, madam. These are some of the things you are going to have to listen to if you do, in fact, decide to get into this race again.”
‘Default’ Winner?
Since all signs point to yes, she will throw her hat in the ring, the question becomes can Harris pull off a primary win in a crowded Democrat field. Smith said it is possible, but only because of the lack of depth in the party.
“It [would be] by default because who else do you have right now that has stepped up,” he asked. “They’ve had a couple of years. We haven’t seen anybody… I think they are leaderless right now.”
As he explained, Harris is not the only presidential hopeful with baggage. “Gavin Newsom, all you’re going to do is look at the state of California and the inordinate amount of problems that they have in that state and you’re going to say, ‘No way in hell,” Smith said. “You’re going to look at Pete Buttigieg… Even though he’s respected by some, particularly on the left, he’s not going to move a lot of people.”
“Look at Josh Shapiro, obviously, things that have been going on in Israel, the war on Gaza and stuff like that, and fomenting with the growth of antisemitism that has unfortunately been sifting through this country… that is going to be something that is going to be counted against him,” he continued. “Sen. Mark Kelly, I don’t know how much he is going to resonate with people right now. The only thing that he has done that we’ve really noticed and paid attention to is the fact that… [he] played a part with the videos instructing U.S. soldiers not to follow illegal orders.”
That brings us back to Ms. Harris. “So, essentially, by default, that means Kamala Harris could be at the top of the heap,” Smith said. “I think that would be a mistake, obviously, because I think that she’s had a bite at the apple, not just once but twice.”
“In 2020, she couldn’t even make it to Iowa. In this last election, you had 107 days, that’s true, but you also had a billion and a half dollars… you were to upgrade from Joe Biden, and you still managed to lose,” Smith concluded. “I don’t know how the Democratic Party will rally behind her being the candidate yet again… but who knows.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Smith by tuning in to episode 1,297 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 The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.