Hillary Clinton Weighs In on Harris Loss Why Being Biden s Vice President Complicated Everything

Did Kamala Harris lose solely because she only had 100 days to run? I think that was definitely a factor. I think she also found herself really in a difficult position trying to run as the sitting vice president, but separate herself from the sitting president. That's really hard. You know, when I ran, I'd been Secretary of State for President Obama, and there was part of the Democratic Party and certainly Republicans, independents, who were favorable toward a lot that President Obama had done, but not everything. And yet I was part of that administration trying to separate myself, trying to chart my own course. Well, she was doing it in real time. I mean, there was no gap between her service, as there was with mine, and her campaign. So I think that was a real problem. She seemed terrified to speak her mind. I think, I can't tell you, I think what she was worried about, first of all, there is still to this day, but back then even more intensely, people who really were grateful to Joe Biden. He defeated Donald Trump. He did do a lot in the legislative arena that we are benefiting from, whether it's infrastructure, the Chipsville, to be competitive worldwide, et cetera. Some people didn't want to hear anything from any candidate, especially somebody that he picked to be the vice president, criticizing him. I mean, if it had been a governor or somebody else who had emerged from a different process, they could have done a lot more separating themselves from him. And then there's the other thing. I can't tell you how many people, people on the left, people who consider themselves good feminists, enlightened about identity in all senses, will say to me, next time in 28, we cannot take the risk. We can't be a woman. It can't be African American, et cetera, et cetera. And I find this shocking. And it's now, we're a quarter of the way through the 21st century and we're still having this conversation. You've lifted the microphone and you're ready to go. I don't need to continue. Well, first of all, there is a global pushback on women's rights. And part of that is being led by this administration. The first person that Trump fired was the woman commandant of the Coast Guard. The second person was the black combat veteran Air Force general who is the chair of the Joint Chiefs. And the third person was the first woman to be chief of naval operations. And we've seen what just happened last week with Hegseth removing women and black military officers from promotion. We've seen them taking down pictures of the first woman who flew with the Thunderbird formation. The first black general, Chaffee James, who was an incredibly effective fighter pilot. There is an unabashed campaign to undermine both minority leadership and women's leadership in public spaces. There's no doubt about that. And not only is it happening in so-called IRL, real life, it's happening online to just an extraordinary extent where the threats against women, the attacks on women. So this is a moment where we are seeing the firing of women, not men. I mean, for heaven's sakes, I'm not going to make any brief for the women that he fired from his cabinet. I didn't agree with any of them. But Hegseth is still there. And so you think about the way that this man is treating women, the way he talks to women journalists, his whole behavior toward women is so disdainful. So I think that's in the culture. It's not made up. When people say, well, I don't know. I don't know if we could vote for a black candidate or a woman candidate. But my ultimate answer to that is it depends upon the candidate. Well, let me ask you about one. The candidate that's polling now the highest, among women certainly, is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. How would you feel about her as a standard bearer for the Democratic Party nationally? Well, those are not the same polls that I've seen. I think... Look, she is a very talented politician. And she is, like, in the top five. But so is Kamala Harris. And depending upon the polls, sometimes Gavin Newsom. I mean, so it's a... I mean among women. Gavin Newsom is not that. I'm talking about what I consider to be reliable polls of voter sentiment, which is both men and women, because you're not going to win with just women. I wish. That would be, you know, someday possible, but not. So I don't know. It's way too soon. But here's what I really think. Number one, stay focused on the midterm elections. We have to win the House and hopefully the Senate. And we have some, you know, really good chances of doing that in the House. And I think we have a 50-50 chance in the Senate. To win the Senate, one of the seats that the Democrats have to win is in Maine. How do you feel about him? I feel about him the way I feel about any candidate. I want to see what kind of candidate he actually turns out to be. The bumps on the road that he has experienced and some of the things he has said. Bumps on the road? Yeah, I mean, clearly bumps on the road in terms of some of his prior behavior, some of his prior statements. And I will tell you, I served with Susan Collins. She is going to be very hard to beat. And it's going to be a tough election. So I'm reserving... But if you were a Mainer, where would you pull the lever? But I'm not a Mainer. I'm a New Yorker. No, but seriously. You're going to let that pitch go by? But David, look. I think we can get actually to what we need in the majority in the House, which will give us a check on him. I think this election has to be about affordability and accountability. And we need to start holding the people around Trump accountable. And we're going to see whether we can take the Senate. But I think the House has to be the primary objective. And then, once that election is behind us, you're going to have 10 or 12 pretty good candidates, in my view, running in 2028. And I don't know who's going to emerge because I don't know who's going to catch the moment. I don't know who's going to be able to convince the various factions of the Democratic Party to support him or her. But I wouldn't rule out any woman who wants to run or any African American or any Latino or anybody else. They want to get into the arena. Get in the arena. Show us what you can do. And see whether people will vote for you.