Former Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show for her first interview since 2024 presidential election.
In the episode aired of "The Late Show", Harris, who has since left office, detailed her decision to not run for Governor of her native California. After a long career of being a “devout public servant,” Harris said that “for now, I don’t want to go back into the system,” adding, “I think it’s broken.”
While there are “so many good people who are public servants, who do such good work, teachers and firefighters and police officers and nurses and scientists,” Harris continued, “I always believed that as fragile as our democracy is, our systems would be strong enough to defend our most fundamental principles. And I think right now that they’re not as strong as they need to be, and I just don’t want to for now. I don’t want to go back in the system. I want to travel the country. I want to listen to people, and I don’t want it to be transactional, where I’m asking for their vote.”
In response, Colbert said, “As someone who is very qualified for the presidency … To hear you say that it’s broken, to hear you say that our systems aren’t strong enough, is harrowing.”
“Well, but it’s also evident, isn’t it?” Harris replied, drawing applause from the audience. “But it doesn’t mean we give up,” she pressed on. “I am always going to be part of the fight.”
“The power is with the people,” she said. “It is our government. It is our country. And it is important, I think, that in this moment where people have become so deflated and despondent and afraid, that those of us who have the ability — which I do right now, not being in an office where I’m campaigning for that office — to be out there and to talk with folks and remind them of their power and their importance.”
Stephen Colbert asked to Harris that what has most surprised her about Donald Trump‘s term is the level of capitulation.
“I didn’t predict that; I did not see that coming,” Harris told
Colbert had asked Harris whether she would like to say “I told you so,” given that she predicted a number of things that Trump is now doing, including alienating allies and giving tax cuts to the rich.
“I believed that on some level, there should be many who consider themselves to be guardians of our system and our democracy, who just capitulated.”
Elsewhere, Harris detailed more about her 107 Days book, which chronicles her 2024 election campaign, and is set for release Sept. 23 on Simon and Schuster.
Her interview on the talk show arrives after CBS‘ abrupt decision to end The Late Show in 2026. While the network claimed the cancellation was financial, it drew backlash, since the announcement came days after Colbert slammed Paramount, which owns both CBS and Comedy Central, over its decision to agree to a settlement with Trump. An array of celebrities, politicians, and fellow late-night legends have thrown their support behind Colbert following the unceremonious decision.
