New Book Exposes Kamala Harris’ Absurd Demands On Campaign Trail
From the outset, former Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign appeared to be destined for failure.
A passage from the recently released book, "FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House" by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, sheds light on the unrealistic demands from Harris' team and how the insistence on "no daylight" between her and former President Joe Biden ultimately hindered her campaign.
According to the book, Harris’ first interview was a complete debacle.
As she faced a nationwide audience eager to see if she could successfully follow in President Joe Biden’s footsteps, the newly minted and unexpected Democratic nominee came across as uncertain and, even worse, diminished in stature.
Her aides assessed that the issue lay with the chair rather than her decision to sidestep key questions. Instead of leading the discussion, she allowed her running mate, Tim Walz, to take control of the conversation. In response, her team instituted a strict set of rules for any future interview seating arrangements, including precise specifications for chair height, arm placement, and firmness.
“Leg height no less than 15 inches; floor to top of seat height no less than 18.9 inches; arms on chairs may not be very high, arms must fall at a natural height; chairs must be firm,” read the list of staging requirements that Harris’ team provided to reporters, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill.
Shortly after launching her troubled campaign, Harris attempted to balance her praise for the administration with an effort to distance herself from its least popular policies. This balancing act was a core demand of her team. Meanwhile, Biden, still grappling with the sting of his own withdrawal from the race, remained firm in his expectations for his vice president.
He made it explicitly clear to his aides—many of whom later embedded themselves in Harris' campaign—that her proposals needed to align with his policies.
On the day of her first debate against Donald Trump, Biden met with Harris privately and reiterated his expectation that she continue to defend his legacy now that he could no longer do so himself.
"No daylight," Biden instructed.
Yet, what unfolded was an erratic campaign filled with improvised responses. Harris made bold but questionable promises, including telling CNN’s Dana Bash that she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet. She also contradicted past stances, particularly on climate policy, by assuring voters in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania that fracking would remain intact, despite previously advocating for the Green New Deal.
Although her first interview had been heavily structured, it only reinforced the perception that her handlers were treating her as if she were incapable of handling tough questions on her own.
As the country weighed whether she or Trump represented the kind of change they wanted, even her supporters admitted that allowing Walz to dominate the conversation might have helped her navigate the moment but ultimately made her appear passive—a leader too willing to let others speak for her.
More than a month into her 90-day campaign, she, Walz, and Bash appeared together again on television. While much of the discussion revolved around stoking fears of a Trump-led "oligarchy" if voters did not support their ticket, national reporters began to note the campaign’s increasingly insular nature.
As the campaign drew to a close, Harris and Biden were rarely seen together. In the aftermath of the election, as both prepared to leave public office, Biden, in his final interviews, began to take direct aim at his running mate.
According to aides who spoke with Harris in those final days, his remarks deeply "saddened" her.