I never doubted that Donald Trump would win the 2024 election, but I also knew better than to get cocky. The signs were there for anyone willing to look past the media spin and junk polling. While the so-called experts were busy pushing laughable numbers showing Kamala Harris in the lead, the real data told a very different story. So when election night rolled around, I wasn’t surprised.
But Harris and her running mate Tim Walz? They were blindsided — stunned that the American people had rejected them so decisively.
Reporter Amie Parnes reveals in "FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House" that Harris and Walz were so disconnected from reality that they genuinely believed victory was within their grasp. Speaking on the "Somebody's Gotta Win with Tara Palmeri" podcast, Parnes described a scene of total denial at campaign headquarters.
"She was completely shocked, and Tim Walz was shocked," Parnes explained, noting that Walz spent election night "stunned" in his hotel room. But it gets better. The Democratic duo was so confused that their aides had to explain their loss to them multiple times, and Kamala actually suggested a recount.
Remember when questioning election results was considered a "threat to democracy"? Apparently, that only applies to Republicans.
The delusion didn't stop there. Harris believed that her campaign was destined for victory because she was drawing large crowds, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Trump was consistently filling venues like Madison Square Garden with overflow crowds numbering in the tens of thousands. Oh, and then there’s the fact that her campaign had to pay celebrities to appear at rallies just to draw a decent crowd.
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One of the most revealing quotes from the book came from a Harris adviser, who admitted, "I don't think we needed more time... We needed more substance. And she did not have more substance." Even Barack Obama knew Harris was an empty pantsuit; that’s why he wanted an open primary to select the next nominee.
I honestly find it hard to believe that the election results truly blindsided Kamala. Why? Because everyone seemed to know she was going to lose. Battleground state Democrats seeking reelection distanced themselves from her. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) seemed to believe that Trump was going to win.
The Biden campaign’s internal polling showed Trump poised to win 400 electoral votes, and according to reports, Kamala’s campaign’s internal polling never had her ahead of Trump, and while they assumed that abortion was going to be their silver bullet in the campaign, it wasn’t a top issue. Oh, and then there’s the fact that prior to becoming the nominee, Kamala was literally the most unpopular vice president in the history of polling.
Perhaps the most hilarious detail is that Team Harris believed it could have won if the election had taken place earlier — you know, before voters got to know her better. "That is f***ing bonkers," a Harris friend said. "If Election Day was October 1, we might have actually somehow pulled it off. Shorter was actually better, not longer." Obviously.
But here’s what really gets me: the way everyone around Kamala seemed to know the truth except for Kamala and Walz. Was that smart of the campaign to keep them in the dark, or was it cruel?
As for the question of whether we should feel bad for Kamala, the answer is obviously “No.” I hope she was crushed.
