After her defeat against Donald Trump, the current vice-president of the United States will not succeed Joe Biden in the White House. The future of the former vice-president looks unclear.
A future to reinvent. Kamala Harris, unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the American presidential election, lost to her Republican opponent Donald Trump, according to official results announced this Wednesday, November 6. While she will not become the 47th President of the United States, the current vice-president’s future in politics appears uncertain.
“We must accept the results of this election,” Kamala Harris told her supporters on Wednesday.
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“I recognize my defeat but I am not giving up the fight,” the former candidate then argued, evoking in particular the right for women “to make decisions concerning their own bodies.”
While opinion polls predicted a close vote, the Republican camp won by a large margin, with 294 electoral votes won against 223 for the Democrats.
Ensuring a peaceful transition of power
In the short term, Kamala Harris must ensure the end of her mandate as vice-president of the United States. Indeed, Donald Trump will not succeed Joe Biden until January 20, 2025, the day when the Democrat will officially proclaim the victory of the Republicans, which will mark the return of the real estate mogul to the White House, with JD Vance as new vice-president. president.
“We will help (Donald Trump) and his team in the transition and we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power,” Kamala Harris assured Wednesday on this subject.
For his part, Joe Biden reacted to the defeat of his vice-president, saying he was convinced that Kamala Harris “will continue to be a leader that our children will admire for generations, while she will leave her mark on the future of America.”
“The vice-president has not finished her fight”
But what will Kamala Harris’ future hold? If the former California prosecutor has not publicly announced anything firm, she said she was determined, after her defeat, to continue to defend her ideas.
“This is not the time to give up. This is the time to roll up our sleeves. This is the time to organize, mobilize and stay committed to the fight for freedom and justice “, she assured.
“The work of protecting America against the impacts of a Trump presidency begins now,” Kamala Haris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon also assured in a letter to her team, according to the Associated Press.
“I know that the vice-president has not finished this fight and I know that the people receiving this email will also be leaders in this collective mission,” she said.
A candidacy for governor?
The journalist and long-time observer of American political life, Richie Greenberg, believes Times that, initially, Kamala Harris “will have to rest, lick her wounds and think about what role she will play” in the future, with the Democrats or not.
Among the possible options for the future former vice-president, Kamala Harris could choose to run for governor in California, a state where she had a long career as a prosecutor.
The journalist, however, expresses doubts. “I don’t know if people are ready to give money again,” after his heavy defeat against Donald Trump. “Someone told me that they would not finance (such a candidacy). It would divide the Californian party if she ran,” he said.
A role within the Democratic Party?
Still at the Times, Gil Duran, a former colleague of Kamala Harris when she worked at the prosecutor’s office in Sacramento, California, says he is also pessimistic about the vice-president’s political future.
“It seems to me like the end of a political career and not the beginning. It’s like the game is over. It’s tragic, for her and for the country,” he said.
For him, the defeated candidate does not have a “viable path in politics as an elected official”. “She could play a role within the party,” however, believes Gil Durant, suggesting a possible future as spokesperson for the Democrats.
Former lawyer, then prosecutor, Kamala Harris could also choose to move away from politics and return to her first career, albeit with the label of unsuccessful presidential candidate.
For the Democratic Party, important work awaits it to avoid another failure in 2028. On the agenda, in particular, according to the American media PBS News, “think about how they address Latinos, working class voters and to men” with whom Kamala Harris did not find much resonance.
