Former Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday night for her first TV interview since leaving office. The interview happened just one day before her new book 107 Days came out. The book tells the story of her 2024 run for president, which she lost to Donald Trump. Harris used the interview to hit back hard at Trump and big business leaders.
The 40-minute talk stood out because Harris spoke very directly about Trump. She also shared how let down she felt by business leaders who she thought would protect democracy. She was upset that America’s richest and most powerful people were not fighting back against Trump’s actions.
Harris was tough on American CEOs. She said she had worked with big companies for many years. She always thought that when things got bad, business leaders would step up to protect democracy. “And one by one by one, they have been silent. They have been, you know, yes, I use the word feckless,” she said, according to Fox News. She pointed out that these billionaires would not really lose much if they spoke out against Trump. It was not like they would lose their yacht or their house in the Hamptons.
Harris says Trump acts like a dictator
Harris went even further when talking about Trump. She called him a “tyrant” and said his way of leading was like dictators in other countries. She said democracy helps capitalism work well, but under Trump it felt like dealing with communist leaders. Harris said she understood why business leaders might be scared to speak out, since Trump’s team goes after people who criticize him.
But she said at some point, business leaders need to stand up for regular people who count on democratic institutions to work properly. She said they need to act as guards against what she called a tyrant who uses the government to get what he wants because his ego gets hurt easily. Harris talked about Jimmy Kimmel coming back on TV as a good example of how people can fight back by using their money to make change.
The interview also covered Harris’s new book, which talks about her 107-day campaign for president after Joe Biden dropped out of the race. In the book, Harris criticizes how Biden made decisions and how his staff treated her when they worked together. She says Biden’s choice to run again was “reckless” and that the decision should not have been left up to one person’s ego and desire for power.
Harris has not said what she plans to do next in politics, but she has said she will not run for governor of California in 2026. The book tour and TV appearances have made people wonder if she might run for president again in 2028. Her interview with Maddow was her first big return to national politics after staying out of the public eye since losing to Trump.
Published: Sep 23, 2025 01:38 pm