Kamala Harris rejects idea that bungled 'View' interview was tipping point in campaign

Former Vice President Kamala Harris addressed her bungled answer from a 2024 interview on "The View" during Tuesday's edition of the ABC talk show about her new book, "107 Days."

"The book is about a reflection, and that day and that interview for me, really was symbolic of the issue," Harris said, telling the co-hosts she thought the differences between her and former President Joe Biden were "obvious."

Co-host Sunny Hostin asked Harris during the October 2024 interview if there was anything she would have done differently from Biden throughout their term together. Harris responded at the time, "Not a thing comes to mind," which appeared to cement the perception that she wasn’t a change candidate."

Hostin pressed Harris again Tuesday, asking about her differences with Biden. The former VP admitted she knew her close ties to the president would become an issue.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the co-hosts of "The View" on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. (Screenshot/ABC)

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"In the moment, I knew," Hostin told Harris, referencing her question posed to the former vice president. "The Trump campaign weaponized your answer against you, my question, and some, including James Carville and Jake Tapper, point to that answer as a turning point in your candidacy."

Hostin asked Harris if she believed the moment tipped the election.

"No, no," Harris said as co-host Joy Behar chimed in, "Good, because Sunny doesn't want to take the blame."

Harris said during the interview that she didn't fully appreciate how significant an issue her closeness to Biden was during the election cycle. She believed during the campaign she often pointed out the differences between her and Biden without seeming disloyal.

Former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, left, and former President Joe Biden attend a campaign event at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh, on Sept. 2, 2024. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Hostin added, "That President Biden was deeply unpopular, I did realize that."

Her response to Hostin's question at the time went viral for the wrong reasons. It appeared in ads for President Donald Trump and was widely viewed as a damaging moment for her candidacy. 

The former vice president also addressed the moment in her book and wrote she had no idea she "pulled the pin on a hand grenade" in her answer to Hostin's question. 

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 2025. (Camille Cohen/AFP via Getty Images)

"Stationed at various places around the set, my staff were beside themselves. Political operatives have an eye to see a moment, and I could kick myself for giving the other side that moment. During the commercial break, while I was having a bit of fun with some young students I’d noticed in the audience who were obviously playing hooky, offering to write notes to their teachers after the show, Opal [Vadhan] passed me a note from our team, telling me to return to that question and mention that a big difference would be that I would put a Republican in my cabinet," she wrote. 

However, Harris acknowledged the damage had already been done. 

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