Has Kamala Harris Changed? Or Have We?

Published 2024-07-26
Vice President Kamala Harris has gone from being one of President Biden’s many problems to the hope of the Democratic Party. This week Ross, Lydia and Carlos dissect the seismic campaign vibe shift in both parties. Plus, Ross criticizes another self-indulgent addition to the modern era’s Western canon.


(A full transcript of this episode will be available within 24 hours of publication on the Times website.)


Mentioned in this episode:

• Ross Douthat, David French, Michelle Goldberg, and Lydia Polgreen: Is It a Mistake for Democrats to Go All In on Harris? Four Columnists on the Party’s Moves. (www.nytimes.com/2024/07/22/opinion/kamala-harris-d…)
• Harris’s Michigan event on abortion (www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/…)
• Harris’s first presidential rally in Milwaukee speech (www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/…)

Thoughts about the show? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at (212) 556-7440.

All Comments (21)
  • @ricfax
    Those now touting Kamala's "accomplishments" were previously touting Joe's cognitive capacity.
  • Neither Harris nor The Times has changed. They're both still flaky as can be.
  • @WORF2007
    A zebra can’t change it’s stripes and neither can a lying democrat change into a responsible respectable person
  • Ross is truly insufferable. I truly dislike this man because he seems to take satisfaction in other people's failings. He has in my opinion no room in his head for people being human. He is scrooge.
  • @boatman189
    Harris stated, "We also recognize just as it has been in the United States, for Jamaica, one of the issues that has been presented as an issue that is economic in the way of its impact has been the pandemic."
  • Amid the crocodile tears for Joe's " magnanimous" and "patriotic decision" let's remember an old man's vanity, and the DNC enabling this train wreck to get as far along as it did.
  • @BleakVision
    It's all dependend on the context we all exist in, as well as the passage of time.
  • @PC-tc5je
    "Senator Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she'll be a prosecutor president. But I'm deeply concerned about this record. There are too many examples to cite but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. She blocked evidence -- she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California. And she fought to keep a bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way." - Tulsi
  • @donjuan1212
    Nope, still the same lying, condescending, arrogant politician she's always been.
  • @jcg5541
    This is typical NY Times “Matter of Opinion”, ie stressing “OPINION”, not objective journalism. Don’t mix the two.
  • @boatman189
    Harris being sharp: ‘It’s time for us to do what we have been doing, and that time is every day'
  • @StanleyGrill
    It’s always fascinating to hear opinions from people who entirely lack the experience or qualities to lead themselves offer such decisive opinions on those who do.
  • @heavyd777
    From everything I can tell Kamala Harris doesn't really have the accomplishments or leadership capacity I look for in a Presidential candidate. I've seen and worked with people similar to her where they tout accomplishments that aren't really accomplishments, just things they did. They come across to me as phony and with an inauthenticity. She was a California AG and a Senator so there is some executive experience there but that is only one part of the experience I look for. She doesn't really have the private sector experience I look for. Such as creating companies, making a payroll, managing employees, etc.. There are large gaps and disconnections between what she says, what others say about her and her actual experience. Lying or misrepresenting this experience is not going to help her case or make her more popular because any statement that is not accurate can easily be debunked. The American people are smart. We can see through the fog, smoke and gaslighting. The same people that are promoting Kamala's "accomplishments" were previously touting Joe's cognitive capacity. Just like with Harris, we have Biden's actual record to look at and you cannot square that circle between what actually happened and what is being said.
  • @Maybemaybexyz
    30 days we all knew she did nothing 1 week ago we all changed our viewpoints based on the media reporting
  • @Michael-uc7gr
    Trump has to be careful on how he attacks Harris. If he sticks to her record as a SF DA, CA AG and Senator, and border Czar, and runs ads of her spewing word salads, he'll be OK. Anything beyond that will elicit the race and gender cards.