In what must surely rank as a triumph of hope over experience, former Vice President Kamala Harris leads the Democratic field of contenders for governor of California if she entered the Golden State’s 2026 race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), polling shows.
The post Poll: Kamala Harris Is Lead Democratic Contender for 2026 California Governor appeared first on Breitbart.
When the Biden administration launched its strategy to tackle "root causes" of migration at the southern border during a time of rapidly rising and historic illegal immigration, the now-frozen United States Agency for International Development (USAID) played a significant role.
During the Biden administration, Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked with leading diplomacy in Latin America to tackle the root causes, identified as issues like gang violence, climate change and poverty. It consisted of both government initiatives and funding from private organizations.
USAID, which was frozen in recent days over concerns about misspending, played a key role in the distribution of funds. While certain operations have been halted to get a full picture of USAID funding to the region, it is possible to get a glimpse of the help it provided.
JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP FROM PLACING 2,200 USAID WORKERS ON LEAVE
In 2021, the first year of the Biden administration, USAID announced Centroamérica Local, a 5-year, $300 million initiative that funded organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address the root causes of migration to the U.S.
"Under this new initiative, Centroamérica Local, USAID intends to invest up to $300 million, subject to the availability of funds, toward engaging, strengthening, and funding local organizations to implement programs to advance sustainable and equitable economic growth, improve governance, fight corruption, protect human rights, improve citizen security, and combat sexual and gender-based violence," USAID said in a statement at the time.
"These programs are being carried out under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Root Causes Strategy and deliver on the Agency’s goal to foster greater engagement with local organizations and communities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and advance stability in the region."
More was still to come.
TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY
In 2022, USAID announced programs in Central America to end gender-based violence, including a $6.5 million program in Guatemala and a $2.7 million program in Honduras. That built off a program announced in El Salvadaor.
In March last year, Harris met with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and announced a planned investment of $135 million in USAID funding, alongside $170 million to aid development, economic health and security assistance.
Included in the announcement was an expansion of the Central American Service Corps, which was created in 2022 at the Summit of Americas. The expanded program was funded by USAID and aimed to reach 2,800 people seen at most risk of migrating by engaging them with volunteer work, employment and training.
Also announced for Guatemala was a USAID-implemented "Feed the Future" program to strengthen the capacity of research and education entities to scale agricultural technologies and to support research and education related to "climate smart" agriculture.
USAID was also to implement a new "Guatemala Biodiversity Conservation" program to promote the conservation of biodiversity and strengthen protected areas and other areas of ecological importance.
In September, USAID announced an additional $10.75 million in funding for Guatemala.
USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN'S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY
That came after USAID invested over $153 million in Guatemala in 2023 to allegedly support the government in efforts to strengthen democracy and improve opportunities. According to a release, funded activities included "integrated rural and agricultural development, sustainable economic growth, support for the construction of climate-resilient infrastructure, and digital development and e-governance."
Harris was dogged by the "border czar" title throughout her unsuccessful presidential bid as she largely dropped the root causes emphasis and instead focused on the Biden administration’s efforts to secure the border.
President Donald Trump’s administration has demonstrated a skepticism of the root causes strategy, both in its leaning in on border security and interior enforcement and also its moves to cut or freeze funding abroad.
In his first week in office, Trump also rescinded Biden's 2021 executive order creating a "comprehensive regional framework to address the causes of migration, to manage migration throughout North and Central America and to provide safe and orderly processing of asylum seekers at the United States border."
He also revoked an executive order to rebuild and enhance programs to resettle refugees and plan for "the impact of climate change on migration."
A federal judge on Monday initiated a procedural move to deny a CBS motion seeking to dismiss President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over a 60 Minutes broadcast.
The post Judge Denies CBS Motion to Dismiss Trump ’60 Minutes’ Lawsuit as He Demands $10 Billion More appeared first on Breitbart.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris was spotted at a Los Angeles Lakers game this week and appeared to receive a rather icy reaction from fans in attendance on Thursday night.
Videos shared on social media showed Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, walking to their seats at the Crypto.com Arena for Thursday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
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Social media users pointed out Harris’ seats, which appeared several rows up from the court, and the overall lack of reception as Harris and Emhoff made their way up.
Comedian Jeff Dye, who was in attendance, shared a video of Harris' and Emhoff’s seats.
"Kamala Harris is at the Lakers Warriors game in like row 58. Should’ve saved some of that money. @KamalaHarris @DouglasEmhoff," he said in a post shared on X. "lol. What a world."
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"Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff arrive at the Lakers game. Pretty much nobody cared," one user wrote on X.
"Crowd is completely unfazed," another commented.
"The crowd’s unenthusiastic response says it all," one post read.
LUKA DONCIC TRADE HAS NFL STARS DUMBFOUNDED AT SUPER BOWL LIX: 'IT'S LIKE TRADING LAMAR'
Following Harris’ failed campaign, speculation about the former vice president’s future in politics has linked her to a possible California gubernatorial bid in 2026.
Prior to Thursday’s NBA game, Harris visited areas damaged by the Palisades wildfires and spoke with displaced residents at a Red Cross shelter.
That same day, when speaking with reporters, Harris appeared to dodge the rumors about her future political endeavors.
"I have been home for two weeks and three days," Harris said. "My plans are to be in touch with my community, to be in touch with the leaders and figure out what I can do to support them."
When pressed further, Harris responded that she "would be here no matter what office I hold, because it is the right thing to do."
Fox News Digital's Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
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A Michigan Democratic congresswoman who refused to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential run due to the Biden-Harris administration's stand on Israel is now lashing out against the Republican who defeated her, citing his proposal on ending the Gaza conflict.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib blasted President Donald Trump for his comments on the war in Gaza and urged her allies to ramp up a push for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
"This president can only spew this fanatical bulls--- because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing," Tlaib said on Twitter Tuesday. "It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak."
Tlaib's comments came after Trump proposed a U.S. takeover of war-torn Gaza following the war, saying that Palestinians could be resettled to other countries.
SAUDI ARABIA CONTRADICTS TRUMP, VOWS NO TIES WITH ISRAEL WITHOUT CREATION OF PALESTINIAN STATE
But Tlaib’s calls for other lawmakers to "speak up" comes after she declined to take a stance on last year’s presidential election.
Tlaib’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the presidential race came during a time of severe backlash against the Biden administration’s policies in Gaza by many constituents in her district, with some Muslim leaders going so far as to endorse Trump despite their traditional support for Democratic candidates.
One such leader, Bishara Bahbah, chaired a group known as Arab Americans for Trump. But Bahbah announced on Wednesday that he was changing the name of the group, according to a report from the Associated Press, citing Trump’s comments on Gaza.
THE HISTORY OF GAZA AMID TRUMP’S PLAN TO REBUILD ENCLAVE
"The talk about what the president wants to do with Gaza, obviously we’re completely opposed to the idea of the transfer of Palestinians from anywhere in historic Palestine," he said in a statement announcing the group’s name would be changed to Arab Americans for Peace. "And so we did not want to be behind the curve in terms of pushing for peace, because that has been our objective from the very beginning."
But the sudden outcry in reaction to Trump’s comments wasn’t well received by all Democrats, with Democratic strategist Julian Epstein telling Fox News Digital that Trump’s proposal was a lot more positive than anything Tlaib appears to be offering as a solution.
"Whether you agree or disagree with Trump’s proposal, at least he is proposing something that could lead to a bright future for Gaza," Epstein said. "Tlaib, on the other hand, has advocated for policies that would keep the neo-Nazi, terrorist, race-hating Hamas in power while mimicking their rhetoric rom ‘river to sea,’ for which she was sanctioned by the House, including with Democratic support."
Conservatives on social media are having a field day mocking the Democratic National Committee for featuring a handful of "beyond parody" moments during its leadership vote over the weekend, which critics say underscores that Democrats have "learned absolutely nothing" from their 2024 election losses.
The DNC voted to elect Minnestota Democrat Party leader Ken Martin as its chair on Saturday, after eight candidates vied to succeed Jaime Harrison. Following the Democratic Party's losses in November, when Republicans reclaimed the White House and Senate and retained control of the House, the DNC's chair vote serves as a fresh slate for the party as they ramp up strategies and fundraising for the next election cycle.
Conservatives and critics took to social media over the weekend to highlight what they viewed as the most out of touch speeches and comments from party leaders, including the election of left-wing activist David Hogg as one of its three co-chairs. Hogg is an outspoken gun control advocate and the co-founder of March for Our Lives, a gun control group that was formed after the Parkland school shooting in 2018.
"DNC Vice Chair David Hogg has some legitimately INSANE views that are wildly out of step with the American people. Good to see that the Democrat Party has learned absolutely nothing," conservative communicator Steve Guest posted to X.
Hogg, a Parkland school shooting survivor, said from the DNC vote in Maryland that the party will put Republicans "on the defense" in the coming days and reclaim lost political ground.
"After Parkland, our country was in a similar moment – where we had a Republican trifecta in Washington," the 24-year-old said during the DNC election. "We went on the offense, put the Republicans on the defense, and we won. That’s what we need to do right now."
"We’re going to show people that the reason people should vote for us isn’t just because we’re not Republicans – it’s because we’re damn Democrats. We give a s---," he pledged. "And we deliver. Now it’s time to rebuild the party and to rethink the way we’ve been doing things."
Amid the hours-long vote and gathering of Democrats on Saturday in Maryland, former DNC chief Harrison announced that the elections must be gender-balanced, including when a non-binary candidate is in the running, sparking condemnation from conservatives.
DEMOCRATS RALLY AROUND LIGHTENING ROD ISSUE AT FINAL DNC CHAIR DEBATE
"We have an amazing group of new officers. So far, as you know, our three at large vice chair positions are used to ensure gender balance among seven offices: treasury secretary, national finance chair and vice chair for civic engagement and voter participation and the three at large vice chairs. Our rules specify that when we have a non-binary candidate or officer, the non-binary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six offices must be gender balanced with the results of the previous four elections. Our elected officers are currently two male and two female. In order to be gender balanced… we must elect one male, one female, and one person of any gender."
Before the election kicked off on Saturday, the eight candidates had traveled to Georgetown University for a forum co-hosted by MSNBC on Thursday, where they declared "racism and misogyny" compounded former Vice President Kamala Harris' election loss.
"So, I’m going to have a show of hands. How many of you believe that racism and misogyny played a role in Vice President Harris’ defeat?" MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart asked the eight candidates.
"That’s good. You all passed," Capehart said after all candidates raised their hands in agreement.
Republican lawmakers and pundits pounced on clips of the exchange, including Sen. Tommy Tubervile, R-Ala., who quipped that the GOP will expand its majority in the midterms.
Singing also broke out both during the forum and the vote. Dr. Quintessa Hathaway was in the running for chair and belted out a song with the lyrics, "You fight on, when the government is doing you wrong, you fight on" during the Thursday forum. She also sang another song ahead of the vote on Saturday vowing, "We shall overcome."
FIRST ON FOX: AFTER 2024 ELECTION SETBACKS, DEMOCRATS EYE RURAL VOTERS
Harrison was also spotted on camera singing on Saturday, delivering a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday."
DEMOCRATS' HOUSE CAMPAIGN CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS HER PLAN TO WIN BACK MAJORITY
DNC members also "acknowledged" during the vote that the U.S. was "built on indigenous lands."
Ken Martin, who previously slammed Trump as a "traitor" who should be prosecuted for treason, celebrated his win on Saturday, vowing to combat Trump and the Republican Party.
"We have one team, one team, the Democratic Party," Martin said following his victory. "The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country."
"We need to go on offense," Martin said. "We're going to go out there and take this fight to Donald Trump and the Republicans."
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Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC on Sunday for comment on the negative backlash over the gathering, but did not immediately receive a reply.
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
As the Democratic Party continues to grapple with former Vice president Kamala Harris' loss to President Trump, some leaders in the party think they should focus on their economic messaging and creating a coherent message to respond to the president.
"We have no coherent message," Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told The New York Times on Sunday. "This guy is psychotic, and there’s so much, but everything that underlines it is white supremacy and hate. There needs to be a message that is clear on at least the underlying thing that comes with all of this."
The DNC elected Minnesota party leader Ken Martin on Saturday, who said during his victory speech they needed to "to rebuild our coalition."
"The policies that we support and the message that we have is not wrong," Martin told the NYT. "It is a messaging problem and a brand problem. Those voters are not connecting our policies with their lives."
FINAL DNC CHAIR DEBATE ROCKED BY PROTESTS
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said the messaging should focus on the economy.
"There are people in the middle — and trust me, there’s a lot of them — that wanted costs to go down," Klobuchar said. "Instead, what they see is chaos going up, corruption going up with the firing of the inspector generals, and guess what else is going up? Egg prices."
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., said Democrats needed to focus their message on lowering costs.
"Within the party, we need to make sure we have a very clear direction to go," he said. "We need to have our own ideas. We’ll never win again if we are just playing defense."
The New York Times reported that former President Obama compared this to when the Democratic Party had lost Congress and the presidency in 2005.
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Others suggested not honing in on everything the president said.
"We cannot get caught up in every egregious thing he says, every insult he hurls, every ally he attacks and every executive order," Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, told the NYT. "There’s just too much."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries recently pledged that Democrats would fight against Trump "in the streets."
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"Right now, we're going to keep focus on the need to look out for everyday New Yorkers and everyday Americans who are under assault by an extreme MAGA Republican agenda that is trying to cut taxes for billionaires, donors, and wealthy corporations and then stick New Yorkers and working class Americans across the country with the bill," Jeffries said.
"That's not acceptable. We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. We're going to fight it in the streets."
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville compared Democrats running former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election to starting a "7th string quarterback" in the Super Bowl, in an interview with PBS' Margaret Hoover on Friday.
"We ran a presidential election, if we were playing a Super Bowl, we started our 7th string quarterback. That's what happened, okay?," said Carville on "Firing Line." "You can't address a problem unless you're honest about a problem."
The Democratic strategist continued by noting that Democratic voters would've been enthralled to have a presidential candidate that could "actually complete a sentence."
JAMES CARVILLE SAYS NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR FROM BIDEN ANYMORE
"Now, if you would've put the staggering talent that exists in today's Democratic Party -- you heard what I said? The staggering talent that exists in today's Democratic Party. If people would have seen that, they'd have gone 'I didn't know they had people like that, that can actually complete a sentence, okay? That actually know how to frame a message, that actually have a sense of accomplishment of doing something,'" claimed Carville.
Kamala Harris faced harsh criticism while on the campaign trail for her struggles in dealing with unscripted conversations, which typically yielded word salad responses from the former vice president.
In the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Carville was so convinced that Kamala would win, he wrote a column for the New York Times titled, "Three Reasons I’m Certain Kamala Harris Will Win."
Carville's column slammed Trump as a "repeat electoral loser" and claimed "This time will be no different," while heaping praise on Harris.
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"On the other side, in just three months Ms. Harris has assembled a unified and electrified coalition. From Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Liz and Dick Cheney, it is the broadest we have seen in modern political history… and if the bigger coalition turns out with equal enthusiasm, it will be lights out for Mr. Trump."
Carville's column also criticized the "sweaty Democratic operatives" who, in the weeks leading up to the election, were having doubts about Harris' chances of beating Trump.
"More than in any other election in my lifetime, I’ve been consistently asked by people of all stripes and creeds: ‘Can Kamala Harris win this thing? Are we going to be OK?’ This sentiment is heard over and over from sweaty Democratic operatives who all too often love to run to the press with their woes," said Carville.
CBS News announced it would comply with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) demand that it turn over the transcript of a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that is the subject of President Trump’s lawsuit against the company.
The FCC, led by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, sent a letter of inquiry to the news company on Wednesday, requesting the "full, unedited transcript and camera feeds."
"We are working to comply with that inquiry as we are legally compelled to do," a CBS News spokesman said in a statement on Friday.
‘60 MINUTES' UNDER FIRE FOR KAMALA HARRIS EDITING DECISION, HAS HISTORY OF LIBERAL CONTROVERSIES
The news comes as settlement discussions between President Donald Trump and the news outlet’s parent company, Paramount, are underway over Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News for how it handled its "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Harris last October.
Citing "three people with knowledge of the talks," The New York Times reported that there is "no assurance" the two parties will reach a deal, but noted that "Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, strongly supports the effort to settle."
The outlet added that Paramount executives believe that settling with Trump will increase the odds that the Trump administration does not block or delay their planned multibillion-dollar merger" with Skydance Media.
Ed Paltzik, an attorney for President Trump, said CBS needs to be held accountable.
"President Donald J. Trump is committed to holding those who traffic in deception and fake news accountable. CBS and its parent company Paramount deceived the American People by unlawfully tampering with their interview of Kamala Harris, and then hiding the transcript from the public in an attempt to save the failing, and now failed, Harris campaign, all in desperate commercial pursuit of increased profit and viewership."
FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW, MORE AMERICANS HAVE ‘NO TRUST’ IN MEDIA THAN THOSE WHO DO: GALLUP
Trump sued the news network in Oct. 2024, alleging "deceptive conduct" in how it produced the interview with Harris just ahead of the presidential election. The then-GOP candidate had accused the network of editing the exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker at the time.
According to Trump and his legal team, a longer, meandering answer that Harris gave to Whitaker during a promotional clip for the interview, appeared to be edited to a sharper, more condensed answer when the primetime interview aired.
Trump’s team demanded CBS News to release the full transcript of the interview that month, though the network refused, citing the First Amendment. The network insisted that "the interview was not doctored" and that the program "did not hide any part of the vice president’s answer to the question at issue."
The refusal prompted Trump to sue for damages in a Texas federal court. The then-candidate’s attorneys said the suit comes in response to the network’s "partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public."
Democratic FCC commissioner Anna Gomez criticized her agency for filing the inquiry this week. The New York Times quoted her, stating, "Let’s be clear, this is a retaliatory move by the government against broadcasters whose content or coverage is perceived to be unfavorable. It is designed to instill fear in broadcast stations and influence a network’s editorial decisions."
CBS and Paramount reps did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's request for any additional comment.
Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this report.
Every single candidate running to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC) blamed former Vice President Kamala Harris's loss to President Donald Trump on "racism and misogyny."
The post Every Single DNC Chair Candidate Says Kamala Lost Due to ‘Racism and Misogyny’ appeared first on Breitbart.
An excerpt from a new book about the 2024 presidential election shed new light on how former Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed interview with podcast giant Joe Rogan fell apart.
"Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for The White House," from authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, provided a play-by-play of negotiations between the Rogan and Harris camps to secure Harris’ appearance on the podcast. The dialogue proved fruitless and cost the ex-vice president’s campaign, especially as then-candidate Donald Trump secured a Rogan interview that went viral.
"Trump spent three hours with Rogan in an interview that instantly went viral. The contrast amounted to a ‘traumatic event,’ said one Harris aide, ‘that I will never forget.’"
Rogan confirmed in late October – just after publishing his sit-down with Trump – that he had been in negotiations with the Harris team for an interview, noting that talks had come to stand still because of Harris’ demands. At the time, he expressed that he was still open to a future interview, and relayed that the Harris camp hadn’t canceled either.
Following the Trump’s election victory, Harris’ team suggested that the president’s interview was the factor that killed negotiations.
"We were hoping to fit it in around that but ultimately weren’t able to do it," Harris campaign senior advisor Stephanie Cutter said on "Pod Save America." "As it turns out, that was the day that Trump was taping his Joe Rogan [appearance], which they had never confirmed to us. We just kind of figured that out in the lead-up to it."
Rogan went on to endorse then-candidate Trump on the eve of the election.
The section from "Fight" shed more light on what happened, alleging that initial negotiations held between Harris deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty and Rogan’s reps were rocky. According to the book, Rogan sent them his list of interview conditions on Oct. 11, which included, "no staff in the studio, no topic restrictions, and Harris would have to sign a waiver."
Additionally, "Harris would have to come to Austin, Texas," according to the Rogan team, though they signaled there was some slight leeway on this condition.
The Harris campaign responded, saying that "Harris would be happy to talk about social media censorship, weed, and other issues they thought would be of most interest to his listeners." However, Rogan disagreed.
As the book said, "Joe just wants to talk about the economy, the border, and abortion."
Then the dispute over where Harris would meet Rogan ensued. Flaherty proposed an interview in Michigan, where the then-vice president would be on the campaign trail. "No-go, the Rogan team said after reaching the host on a weeklong hunting trip. Austin or nothing," Parnes and Allen wrote.
According to their book, "Harris had less than zero reason to be in Texas," as "she was in battleground-or-bust mode."
"Plus, a detour to Texas might smell like desperation to the press and a waste of money to donors," the authors also noted.
Apparently, Harris campaign chief Jennifer O’Malley Dillon found a solution, telling Rogan’s team that Harris would travel "to Houston for a rally—under the cover of visiting a state with one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws—to put her in proximity to Austin" where she could go on the show.
OVER 10 MILLION VIEWERS WATCHED FOX NEWS' INAUGURATION COVERAGE, CRUSHING ALL OTHER NETWORKS
Harris flew to the state under the auspices of fighting for reproductive rights, though Allen and Parnes wrote, "Only a few people knew the real reason: the whole Houston rally was built to put her in proximity to Rogan."
Despite Harris making this concession, Rogan’s team had more demands that seemed to doom the meeting. When Flaherty mentioned Harris going to Rogan’s studio on Oct. 25, they dodged again.
"Wish we had known about this sooner, because he has the 25th blocked out as a personal day," the Rogan team said.
When Flaherty countered with Saturday morning, the podcast host’s people replied, "Only if it’s before 8:30 a.m." The excerpt appeared to suggest that message all but killed the talks between the two camps. The book alleged that shortly afterward, the Harris camp found out that Rogan spoke with Trump on his "personal day."
The work mentioned that Harris aides "made a final stab, offering to let Rogan talk with the vice president in Washington, D.C." However, "Rogan’s team balked, citing the Austin-only condition." Allen and Parnes quoted Flaherty telling Rogan’s people, "You get one trip to Texas within three weeks of the election. You don’t get two."
Reps for Harris' campaign did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith admitted that he and others who voted for Kamala Harris in November's election feel like "d--- fools," during an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday.
Smith made this declaration when discussing comparisons between Harris' campaign and Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. The sports pundit argued that the fact that Harris was not nominated via a legitimate primary, and the fact that she performed so poorly during her short stint in the 2020 Democratic primary, made her undesirable to voters.
Harris dropped out of the 2020 primary in 2019, before even reaching the Iowa caucus. She never received a single primary vote before being anointed the nominee in 2024.
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"Kamala Harris, who didn't resonate during the primaries in 2020, couldn't even get to Iowa, suddenly is the Democratic nominee, then you roll up to the convention in Chicago and everybody is like ‘She’s a rockstar!' So it's like ‘How’d that happen?" Smith said.
"Yes I voted for her, a lot of people voted for her, but in the end, we end up feeling like d--- fools, because we supported it, we fell for the okiedoke as they say. If you had a primary, the likelihood is she would not have been the Democratic nominee."
Smith has been a harsh internal critic of the Democratic Party during and after the 2020 election.
During Friday's appearance on Maher's show, he scolded liberals for choosing not to campaign on issues that the American people were most concerned about, while admitting that Trump did, and was the closer candidate to the center of the political spectrum.
"Here’s the deal: the man was impeached twice, he was convicted on 34 felony counts, and the American people still said, ‘He’s closer to normal than what we see on the left,’" Smith said.
During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity days after Election Day, Smith insisted that the results were a referendum of the Democratic Party.
"I think that in light of those results we have to look at this election as a referendum on the Democratic Party. And America’s saying we’re not feeling where you are, we’re not feeling where you tried to go, we want no part of it, we’re not having it – and they made their choice and we all have to accept it," he said.
During an interview on "The Will Cain Show" on the Thursday after the election, Smith delivered a scathing critique of the Democratic National Committee and its message ahead of Election Day and pointed to transgender issues as one of its weak points.
"It’s such a strong tilt to the progressive left where we are talking about transgender issues and culture wars and identity politics and all of this stuff. We are sick of all of that. That makes total, total sense to me, and I’m good with it, even though I didn’t vote for [Trump]. I’m not as taken aback and feeling like nothing but gloom and doom and the world is coming to an end because the person I voted for didn’t win," Smith said.
Smith has said multiple times that he would consider running for public office. After the results of the election, he has been one of the few figures in the liberal media to embrace the outcome of Trump's victory and has been heavily critical of left-wing figures like Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Jimmy Kimmel in their portrayal of Trump.
Smith also did not rule out a possible presidential run for himself during an interview on "The View" the week after the election.
"I have no desire to be a congressional figure or a senator. But if you came to me and you told me I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States of America, I would definitely consider it," he said.
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at developing AI systems that are free from ideological bias and engineered social agendas. Scientific studies have demonstrated that essentially all popular AI chatbots show a leftist bias.
The post President Trump Signs Executive Order to Promote AI Innovation Free from Leftist Bias appeared first on Breitbart.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly consulted with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on dealing with losing to Donald Trump.
The post Report: Kamala Harris Consulted Hillary Clinton on Dealing with Trump Loss appeared first on Breitbart.
EXCLUSIVE– Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong has made waves with his changes to the historically left-leaning newspaper, speaking in a new interview to Fox News Digital about why he quashed the editorial board's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, how his staff is reacting to his changes and why he wants to appeal to Americans who don't reside in the liberal echo chamber.
Soon-Shiong’s paper was attacked from the left last year after the editorial board did not endorse a presidential candidate for the first time since 2008. Soon-Shiong said he was not surprised by the backlash, which included high-profile staff resignations and the cancelation of thousands of subscriptions.
"I knew I'd get pushback. If you want to lead, you have to lead, so we took that position," Soon-Shiong told Fox News Digital.
"Competence matters," he added. "And, you know, did we feel as a group that she was a competent leader?"
Soon-Shiong said he did not – and has yet to – see the "prepackaged endorsement" for Harris that he scrapped, and he was not aware it had been written when the decision was made to not endorse a candidate.
"I worried [the endorsement] would actually express that she was maybe the most consequential vice president in the history of the United States, which may be the opinion of some people and may be laughed at by other people," Soon-Shiong said.
"I thought, ‘Look, we can't do that.' We have to actually provide what we call factual basis for anything we’re going to actually endorse," he added. "It doesn't mean we don't endorse, but that's not the basis of how we would endorse."
The decision came down just weeks before the 2024 election. Shortly after the LA Times, Gannett, the publishing giant that owns USA Today and hundreds of other newspapers, and the Washington Post also opted not to endorse for president last year. Like the Post, the LA Times had only ever endorsed Democrats for president.
While the Washington Post under Jeff Bezos won't endorse presidential candidates going forward, Soon-Shiong said the LA Times has not ruled out future presidential endorsements. He said the Times plays an important role in local elections, but he didn’t want the paper to serve as an "echo chamber" for liberal readers.
"We really need to be informed, honest, transparent, truthful, so that when anybody reads that, there's a basis for that endorsement," he said, adding, "Somebody had to stand up and take the heat, and I did. I'll probably still continue to take some heat. But I think it's important."
Soon-Shiong, an accomplished medical researcher and transplant surgeon, said he doesn’t regret the decision and feels the California wildfires have emphasized the importance of "competent leadership." He spoke out on X earlier this month about regretting the newspaper's backing of Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
"I really wanted to make sure that we are a trusted source for all Americans," Soon-Shiong said. "Clearly, California is blue, very blue. When our opinion pages were so one-sided, and these are just opinions, I wanted to make sure that everybody had a chance to voice their own opinion. And more importantly, opinion based on facts, not on speculation."
CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR SCOTT JENNINGS JOINS LA TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD AMID PAPER SHAKE-UP
One major change he's made was bringing conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings on to the paper's editorial board, which infuriated some liberal media scribes, and he's planning to bring on more moderate and conservative voices to balance out the roster's liberal lean.
Soon-Shiong told Fox News Digital he was sick of seeing opinions about "speculative statements" written in a way that could appear as facts to the average reader. In November, Soon-Shiong wrote about the importance of sharing different opinions to promote media trust in the wake of President Donald Trump's victory.
Not to say it's been easy. The LA Times has not been immune to industry headwinds, laying off 115 people last year on the heels of eight-figure financial losses in 2023.
Soon-Shiong said it’s been a "struggle" to get the staff to buy into his vision of a paper that caters to readers on both sides of the political spectrum.
"Change is difficult, right? I respect that, and I have empathy for that," he said.
"I think the strength of our paper is going to be investigative reporting and really going after the facts on the reporting side," Soon-Shiong added.
WILDFIRE DISASTER PROVES WHY 'COMPETENCE,' NOT PARTY, MATTERS IN ELECTING LEADERS: L.A. TIMES OWNER
He has visions to improve the outlet's coverage by having it evolve as a media platform, and the LA Times has won plaudits for its on-the-ground reporting on the devastating fires that continue to affect the region.
To achieve his goal to be a trusted resource for all Americans means grappling with the LA Times' historical ideological lean.
"We were and we are, if we're honest with ourselves, the editorial team and the reporting has been left, the opinion side has been left," he said. "Now within the news, sometimes it's opinions scattered into the news and so that gets confusing because the news is supposedly just facts."
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"Every American's allowed to have a voice," he added. "But there should be really one set of facts. And that's the news."
Last month, his own paper published an interview with him and reported that "many Times reporters and editors rejected the notion that they inject opinion into their news reporting, saying they long labored to be impartial arbiters."
Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ future remains unclear months after her election loss to now-President Donald Trump.
As she grapples with navigating next steps, Harris has spoken with family and close friends, including the one other person who has been in her exact position: Hillary Clinton, New York Magazine reported. The two have reportedly spoken several times since Harris’ defeat.
Some have speculated that she will stage a gubernatorial run next year in California, as her close friend, Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, is limited on terms and can’t run again. Others think she still has her eye on the Oval Office and will launch another bid for the presidency. Shortly after the election, Harris reportedly told advisors not to make any plans that would preclude her from seeking the presidency in 2028, according to New York Magazine.
The former vice president has not spoken directly about her future, but she has hinted that she’s not done with politics. Last week, just days before the end of her time as then-President Joe Biden’s VP, Harris addressed a room of staff as she participated in the decades-long tradition of signing her desk drawer. During her brief remarks, Harris said she would not "go quietly into the night," saying that "our work is not done."
The comments she made to staff echoed a message from her concession speech in which she told supporters, "While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign."
HARRIS FORMALLY CONCEDES ONE DAY AFTER TRUMP'S SWEEPING VICTORY
After her 2020 bid for the presidency failed, Harris was given a clear path forward as Biden's pick to be his running mate. While Biden seemed to imply that he would be a one-term president, he announced his re-election campaign in April 2023.
However, after a disastrous debate that highlighted ongoing issues, Biden made the historic decision to drop out of the race in July 2024. This was just one week after a gunman nearly killed Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.
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Shortly after dropping out of the race, Biden endorsed his VP, moving her to the top of the ticket. Some believed this move could have hurt her prospects, as voters saw her nomination as a coronation, in stark contrast to the "save democracy" message channeled by the Democrats.
HOLLYWOOD FINDS FAILURE TO ELECT KAMALA HARRIS 'UNSETTLING': 'NOT THE DRIVER ANYMORE'
Harris and Clinton have more than election losses in common. Both were backed by a long list of Hollywood A-listers, whose endorsements ultimately did not help. Not even Taylor Swift could make the "Harris Era" happen.
"The outcome of this election is not what we hoped, not what we fought for, not what we voted for," Harris said in her concession speech. "But hear when I say … the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting."
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