Kamala Harris says system is ‘broken,’ criticizes ‘capitulation’ under Trump

Former Vice President Kamala Harris said she would not run for public office because the system is “broken,” as she reflected on her decision not to pursue a gubernatorial run in California and spoke about what she views as “capitulation” by those tasked with guarding democracy during Donald Trump’s second administration.

In the former 2024 presidential candidate’s first interview since losing the election, Harris spoke about her career as a public servant, noting that when she was young she thought that people who want to improve or change a system should not just do so from the outside but also change it from the inside.

“That has been my career and recently I made the decision that I, just for now, I don’t want to go back in the system. I think it’s broken,” Harris said in an interview with CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Speaking about her political future, she said, “It is important I think that in this moment where people have become so deflated and despondent and afraid, afraid, that those of use who have the ability — which I do right now, not being in an office where I’m campaigning for that office — to be out there and to talk with folks and remind them of their power.”

Harris was also asked to name a leader of the Democratic Party but refused, saying there were many but that she would leave someone out.

“It is a mistake for us who want to figure out how to get out and through this and get out of it to put it on the shoulders of any one person. It’s really on all of our shoulders. It really is.”