I’m not done: Kamala Harris says she could still be America’s first woman president

Kamala Harris isn’t ready to hang up her political boots just yet. The former US Vice-President has hinted she could make another run for the White House, teasing that she “possibly” sees herself as president one day. In a candid and wide-ranging interview with the BBC, Harris opened the door to a 2028 comeback, signalling that her political story is far from over.

“I am not done,” Harris said, adding that she has “lived [her] entire career as a life of service” and that public life is “in [her] bones”. Confident that America will one day elect a woman as president, she said her grandnieces would “in their lifetime, for sure” see that happen, and when asked if it could be her, she smiled and replied, “Possibly.”

Her comments mark the strongest indication yet that she is eyeing another presidential bid in 2028, after losing to Donald Trump last year. The former vice-president brushed aside polls that rank her as an outsider for the Democratic nomination, even placing her behind Hollywood actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

“If I listened to polls, I would have not run for my first office, or my second office, and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here,” she said.

As the Democratic Party grapples with Trump’s decisive victory one year ago, much of the blame has been directed at former President Joe Biden for not stepping aside sooner.

Some have questioned whether Harris could have run a stronger campaign, especially on the economy, the top issue for voters. Harris’s newly published book, 107 Days, recounts the rollercoaster campaign that began after Biden withdrew from the race following speculation over his mental acuity.

She was left with just 107 days to campaign before facing Trump in the general election, a race she lost narrowly in the popular vote but decisively in the electoral college.

In her interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Harris reflected on what might have been if Biden had exited earlier. “The answer is plainly unknowable, the great ‘if’ that could have changed the fate of America,” she said, pointing to how close the popular vote had been, with less than 2 per cent separating her from Trump.

Harris also turned her fire on her former rival, branding Trump a “tyrant” and claiming her campaign warnings about his authoritarian tendencies had been proved right. “He said he would weaponise the Department of Justice, and he has done exactly that,” she said.

She cited the recent suspension of late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel by ABC after he joked about the Republican response to right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk’s death.

Harris said Trump had “attempted to shut down an entire media organisation” after a regulator he appointed threatened Kimmel’s broadcasters. “His skin is so thin he couldn’t endure criticism from a joke,” she said.

The former vice-president also accused American business leaders and institutions of bowing too easily to Trump’s demands. “There are many, that have capitulated since day one, who are bending the knee at the foot of a tyrant,” Harris said. “I believe for many reasons, including they want to be next to power, because they want to perhaps have a merger approved or avoid an investigation.”

The White House dismissed her remarks. “When Kamala Harris lost the election in a landslide, she should’ve taken the hint, the American people don’t care about her absurd lies,” said spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. “Or maybe she did take the hint and that’s why she’s continuing to air her grievances to foreign publications.”

Despite the barbs, Harris sounded undeterred. As she told the BBC, “I am not done.” Her words suggest that while the chapter on 2024 may have closed, the story of Kamala Harris in American politics is far from over.

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