Former Vice President Kamala Harris avoided naming a current leader of the Democratic Party when pressed on the subject during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Harris, promoting her upcoming book 107 Days—which chronicles her experiences during the 2024 presidential campaign—sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with the late-night host, marking her eighth and possibly final visit to the soon-to-be-canceled show.
As the interview wound down, Colbert highlighted Harris’ current status as neither in office nor running for one. Then he asked bluntly, “Who’s leading the Democratic Party?”
“There are lots of leaders,” Harris replied.
Colbert pushed back: “There’s generally ‘a’ leader of the Democratic Party. Who comes to mind?”
Harris declined to name names. “I think there are a lot of – I’m not going to go through names because then I’m going to leave somebody out and then I’m going to hear about it,” she said. “But let me say this. I think it is a mistake for us who want us 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.”
Harris hinted that 107 Days—slated for release in September—will offer a candid, behind-the-scenes account of her short-lived presidential run.
Earlier this week, she formally announced that she won’t be entering the 2026 California gubernatorial race, a move that has only intensified speculation she may be laying the groundwork for a possible 2028 presidential campaign. That field could prove competitive, with names like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer already circulating.
Colbert also asked Harris about the challenges she faced in differentiating herself from then-President Joe Biden during the 2024 campaign. Harris said she resisted the urge to join in on criticism of her former running mate after he withdrew from the race.
She also voiced concern over what she described as widespread “capitulation” following President Donald Trump’s return to office.
“Perhaps it’s naive of me, someone who has seen a lot that most people haven’t seen, but I believed that on some level, you know, there are many, there should be many who consider themselves to be guardians of our system and our democracy who just capitulated, and I didn’t see that coming,” she said.
Her comment may have been an indirect reference to Paramount’s recent legal settlement with Trump, which ended his “election interference” lawsuit concerning the editing of Harris’ 60 Minutes interview in October. That same settlement was quickly followed by the cancellation of The Late Show and the FCC’s approval of the Paramount–Skydance merger.
Interestingly, Colbert made no mention of Trump’s lawsuit during the interview—even though it stemmed directly from Harris’ controversial 60 Minutes appearance last year.
