Unlike others in the political arena, Kamala Harris isn’t a sore loser, as demonstrated in a “conversation” at the Wiltern in support of her just-published memoir of her view of the 2024 presidential campaign.
A full house of Harris supporters paying upwards of $100 each for tickets turned up Monday night to cheer and applaud the former vice president — the first woman to hold the office — as she discussed the 107 days she spent campaigning for the nation’s top job.
The race began for her on July 21, 2024 when then-President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection. On Nov. 5. 2024, Donald Trump won the presidency.
Harris’ journal-like book, “107 Days,” is broken into chapters discussing significant dates in the lead up to the election. Coming across as both complimentary and occasionally resentful, Harris ponders Biden’s age and mental sharpness and how his image for good or bad cast a shadow over her campaign.
In the Los Angeles stop on her book tour, Harris, 60, offered a positive message to voters who were disheartened by the outcome of the election.
“I hope that we remember the optimism we felt during those 107 days,” she said, adding that “our spirit cannot be defeated.”
At the same time, she expressed surprise that Trump in his second term as president appears to face so little resistance as he targets universities, diversity efforts and denies long-held scientific beliefs.
“What I did not predict was the capitulation,” Harris said. “I always believed the titans of industry would be the guardians of our democracy — and I’ve been deeply, deeply disappointed.”
The Brentwood resident said that in a recent visit to Washington, D.C., she met with journalists who told her they fear for their jobs and safety if they report views other than those belonging to the Trump administration.
“Journalists are really scared right now,” Harris told the crowd. “They’re afraid.”
According to Harris, Trump “is trying to keep the truth from the American people. This is a time to rise up. We cannot normalize this. People are on edge right now.”
The Wiltern crowd Monday of an estimated 1,850 people of various ages and races, cheered when Harris set her sights on what she described as Trump’s personality.
“This is a man who is unbalanced, he is incompetent, and he’s unhinged,” she said. “He has a fragile ego — and he is the president of the United States. We cannot get used to it.”
There seemed to be little anti-Harris activity outside the venue, while security, including Los Angeles Police Department K9 handlers and metal detectors, was tight.
Despite her message that Democrats must resist the current administration — “sometimes the fight takes a while” — she revealed that her feelings have lingered long after the election results came in showing Trump had won.
“I haven’t felt anything as remotely similar since my mother died,” she said. “I was grieving for my country. … We cannot let our spirit be defeated. Times like this require us to fight fire with fire.”
God help us that 1800 paid money to see her. Nation is doomed.