In the final stretch before the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris faced a pivotal media moment during an appearance on ABC’s The View, one that even her own campaign team recognized as a serious misstep.
As detailed in the new book Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House by journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, Harris stumbled when asked whether there was anything she would have done differently from President Joe Biden, as reported by The Daily Mail.
Harris replied on-air:
“There is not a thing that comes to mind. I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.”
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Her response stunned one of her own top campaign advisors, Stephanie Cutter.
“What the hell was that? That’s not what we practiced.”
The moment denied Harris an opportunity to distinguish herself from Biden, who had bowed out of the race following a disastrous debate performance but remained widely unpopular in polling.

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Harris’s failure to articulate a policy difference or leadership contrast allowed critics to frame her as a continuation of Biden’s presidency rather than a new direction.
According to the book, aides had prepared Harris with a list of accomplishments shared with Biden, but the interview effectively reinforced the perception that she represented “more of the same.”
Cutter, a longtime Democratic strategist and former advisor to President Obama and Senator Edward Kennedy, was helping the campaign shape its messaging during the transition.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign quickly capitalized on the moment. A Trump advisor told the authors:
“When she gave us the gift of the View interview, we were able to anchor her to the Biden administration in her own words, which is something we were trying to do anyway.”
Then-Senator JD Vance posted on X: “Kamala Harris is more of the same. She admits it herself.”
.@JDVance at MSG, on Kamala:
She’s running on how she’s going to be different. But she couldn’t name a single thing that she would do differently than Joe Biden.
I’ll say that could be the Kamala Harris official campaign slogan:
“Kamala Harris. Nothing comes to mind.”
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/URl2I7DSK8
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 27, 2024
Donald Trump Jr. added:
“And just like that, Kamala’s entire bull**** campaign about being a ‘change agent’ collapses. You can’t call yourself a change agent when you not only agree with every single disaster Joe Biden is responsible for, but you brag about being involved in all those decisions!”
Trump’s following campaign ad was simple and effective: it featured Kamala Harris’ quote from The View — “There is not a thing that comes to mind” — followed by Trump saying, “I’m Donald J. Trump, and I approved this message.”
Her own words did the damage without needing any spin.
Trump’s newest ad is just Kamala’s own comment on “The View” followed by Trump saying “I’m Donald J Trump and I approved this message” pic.twitter.com/XSUn9pyGCi
— Sunny (@sunnyright) October 9, 2024
The book also details other awkward campaign moments, including a scripted video where Harris feigned surprise upon receiving endorsements from Barack and Michelle Obama.
After Biden’s withdrawal, Democratic leaders struggled to both honor his presidency and build up Harris’s public profile.
Many of Biden’s top staffers remained on the campaign team, while Harris brought in new personnel to quickly scale up a presidential run, following her brief and unsuccessful 2020 primary bid.
During a recent event in California, Harris encouraged attendees to prioritize “self care” and signaled she was not stepping away from public life.

Speaking to a crowd at a Black women’s conference, she said, “We can’t go out there and do battle if we don’t take care of ourselves and each other.”
“I’ll see you out there. I’m not going anywhere,” Harris added, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Our commitment to lifting each other up, lifting up our community, lifting up our country has not changed. Now what has changed since 2016: We are in the midst of seeing progress being rolled back. Policies that we birthed being rolled back.”
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