Former Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has hinted that she may return to campaigning for the 2028 presidential election after losing the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump.
Harris, a former vice president, faced that possibility Friday when she shared the stage with civil rights leader Al Sharpton at the National Action Network’s annual conference.
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Sharpton, Harris’ interviewer at the event, asked her directly: “So, are you planning to run again in 2028?”
Her appearance at a civil rights convention was met with raucous chants of “Run again!” However, Harris declined to announce a candidacy for any new office, although she indicated she would run in 2028.
“Listen, I might, I’m thinking about it,” she said in response to Sharpton’s question.
Harris highlighted her previous experience in the White House, where she served as President Joe Biden’s second-in-command from 2021 to 2025.
“Look, I served four years just outside the term of President of the United States. I spent countless hours in my office in the West Wing, right around the corner from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Situation Room in the Oval Office,” she said. “I know what the job is and I know what it requires.”
When Harris became the Democratic Party’s front-runner to replace Biden in the 2024 presidential election, she became the first Black and South Asian woman in U.S. history to receive the nomination of a major party.
However, her appointment was made under unusual circumstances.
In the first major presidential debate of the year, the 81-year-old incumbent Biden struggled to answer questions, prompting Democrats to strongly urge him to withdraw from the race.
Biden ultimately resigned in late July 2024, supporting Vice President Harris to succeed him.
Although she did not participate in the primary as a presidential candidate, she won the Democratic nomination in a subsequent roll call vote. At that point, there were less than four months until the general election.
Trump, who was seeking a nonconsecutive second term, ultimately won in a landslide. She won 312 electoral college votes to Harris’ 226 votes.
The popular vote (which is not counted in U.S. elections) was a very close race. Mr. Trump received 49.8% of the overall vote, compared to 48.3% for Ms. Harris.
In introducing Harris at Friday’s event, Sharpton referenced her background, describing her as an underdog who faced difficult situations throughout her career.
He also issued a veiled warning about the current Trump administration, suggesting voters should have supported Harris more in 2024.
“She was so used to people doubting her that she accepted it easily. We were angry. She was calming us down, and now she had to calm me down because we were in trouble,” Ms. Sharpton said. “We should have listened and put up the numbers we should have put up.”
Sharpton also highlighted that Harris’ total vote total in 2024 exceeded 75 million votes.
“She’s the first black woman to be nominated by a major party, and she’s the second-most popular vote-getter,” Sharpton told the audience during her introduction. “She got more votes than Barack Obama and more votes than Bill Clinton.”
Harris was just one of the 2028 candidates who attended the National Action Network conference.
Democratic Illinois Gov. J.D. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Biden’s former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, all likely future presidential candidates, will be in attendance.
So did House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, along with other lawmakers like progressive Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
This year’s presidential election is not on the ballot, but Trump’s Republicans are seeking to maintain control of Congress in November’s close midterm elections, while Democrats are seeking to flip one or both chambers.
The midterm elections are expected to be an unofficial referendum on whether Trump will serve as president for a second term, and Harris criticized Trump’s record to date in her remarks Thursday.
She repeatedly called the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran a “war of choice” and accused President Trump of alienating longtime U.S. allies with his aggressive stance.
“Under Donald Trump, the United States has become increasingly unreliable as a friend and partner, and the United States has – secondly – increasingly lost influence,” she said.
“It’s not just that fact that concerns me. It’s going to take much longer than this man’s term, and it’s going to take some serious effort, to get back what we had.”
Harris publicly mused about the possibility of running for president in 2028, but ultimately left the topic vague.
“I’m thinking in the context of the time: Who, where and how can we do the best job for the American people?” she said. “That’s what I think. I’ll let you know.”
