NEW YORK (AP) — Leaders of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign insist they simply haven’t had enough time to implement a successful strategy against Donald Trump, citing “fierce” political headwinds that were ultimately too great to overcome to overcome. Day after President Joe Biden resigned.
Harris’ leadership team, speaking on the “Pod Save America” podcast that aired Tuesday, defended strategic decisions in the final days of the campaign, some of which have come under scrutiny in the weeks since Trump’s decisive victory. In particular, they defended Harris’ outreach to Republican voters, her unwillingness to distance herself from Biden, her silence on Trump’s attacks on her transgender policies and her inability to arrange an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan.
“In a 107-day race, it’s very difficult to do all the things that you would normally do in a year and a half or two years,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, senior campaign adviser to Harris.
David Plouffe, another senior adviser, added: “There was a price to be paid for the short campaign.”
The pointed reflections on Harris’ loss came just before she said during a conference call with supporters that she was “proud of the campaign we ran” as the party begins a painful process of introspection. Trump won every swing state and made gains among key voter groups traditionally aligned with Democrats — including juvenile voters and voters of color. Bolstered by the resounding victory, the Republican president-elect is claiming the mandate to push through his populist agenda as he prepares to return to the White House on January 20.
Harris acknowledged her defeat during the call but praised the political organization her team built, which included more than 408,000 volunteers who knocked on nearly 20 million doors and made over 219 million phone calls.
“What we accomplished in 107 days was unprecedented,” she said, noting that her campaign also raised more than $1.4 billion, a record for U.S. presidential campaigns.
Still, Harris’ campaign ended the election in debt. And none of the Harris advisers admitted any mistakes during the extensive podcast interview, which was hosted by former Democratic officials. Instead, they pointed out that Harris has few options given the tight time frame and the broad anti-incumbency headwinds that have challenged elected officials around the world.
They also gave Trump’s team some credit.
They pointed in particular to Trump’s latest attack ad highlighting Harris’ support for taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries for transgender prisoners.
“Obviously it ended up being a very effective ad,” said Quentin Fulks, Harris’ deputy campaign manager. “I think that caused her to lose touch.”
The campaign tested several potential response ads but ultimately concluded that it was best to avoid a specific rebuttal.
“There are no easy answers to this,” O’Malley Dillon said.
Plouffe said he thought the Trump attack ad against “Bidenomics” was even more effective, but acknowledged that the transgender attacks were unhelpful.
“She was on tape,” he said. “Operations for transgender people who want to transition in prison was part of the Biden-Harris platform in 2020. It was part of what the administration did, right?”
And while the campaign faced ongoing questions about its media strategy, Harris’ team said she actually wanted to participate in a podcast with Rogan, who is one of the most popular podcasters in the world and ultimately supported Trump.
Stephanie Cutter, another senior adviser to Harris, said the campaign hasn’t been able to “find a deadline” to make it work.
“We had discussions with Joe Rogan’s team. They were great. They wanted us to come with them. We wanted to come,” she said. “Will she do it sometime in the future?” Perhaps. Who knows. But it ultimately had no impact on the outcome, one way or another.”
Plouffe noted that the campaign offered to do the Rogan podcast on the road in Austin, Texas. Trump ultimately conducted his interview with Rogan in the podcaster’s studio.
Harris’ campaign officials also defended her decision to put moderate Republicans on trial in the final days of the campaign. The decision has drawn the ire of some progressives who believe Harris should have worked harder to win over more classic Democratic voters.
“This political environment sucks, okay? We had to contend with strong headwinds,” said Plouffe. “So we had to solve a complicated puzzle here in terms of voters.”
He acknowledged some “deviation” from Trump among voters without college degrees, particularly among voters of color, making Harris’ outreach to moderate voters even more essential.
“Yes, of course as a Democrat you have to maximize your turnout and vote share among liberal voters. That was a big focus,” he said. He added: “You have to combine that with dominance in the middle. Don’t just win a little. We must dominate the moderate vote.”
In Tuesday’s conference call, Harris’ running mate Tim Walz described the election results as “incredibly disappointing” and “a little scary.” However, he praised the campaign’s efforts.
“There will be a day of reckoning when people will ask, ‘What did you do in the 2024 campaign?’ “Well, I know people can say anything they can on this call,” Walz said. “And as an American, I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
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