Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday that the Democratic Party “took Black women for granted” during the 2024 election, arguing that her party ignored issues she believes disproportionately affect Black women in the United States, as reported by Fox News.
Harris made the remarks during an appearance on the podcast Storehouse & Friends, where she discussed her new memoir, 107 Days, which recounts her brief 2024 presidential campaign and its aftermath.
The former vice president was asked whether she experienced tension between her identity as a Black woman and the “race-agnostic” approach she adopted during her campaign.
“I think the Democratic Party has taken Black women for granted,” Harris said.
“There are very specific issues that impact Black women in America that should be some of the highest priorities. I made them priorities when I was vice president, such as Black maternal mortality.”
Harris said the stakes in the 2024 election included attention to “specific health needs” such as postpartum care and maternity support, and she claimed that under the current administration, funding has been cut for scientific research involving women or minorities.
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“You look at what’s happening now with this guy in office, and they’re cutting funding for scientific research if it has the word ‘woman’ or ‘Black’ in it,” she said.
She also pointed to ongoing medical concerns she believes have been overlooked. “I think there needs to be more research on fibroids,” Harris said, referencing a condition that she noted disproportionately affects Black women.
Harris said she will not compromise her identity or her message. “I am never going to shy away from who I am, and I’m never going to feel burdened that because of who I am in terms of my race and my gender that I should pretend to not be,” she said.
Fox News Digital reported that the Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Harris’s remarks.
Harris’s memoir, released in late September, describes the 107 days between her campaign launch and her withdrawal from the 2024 race, in which she ultimately lost to President Donald Trump.
The book also includes pointed criticism of several prominent Democrats, including members of the Biden administration, whom she accused of undermining her efforts.
“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed,” Harris wrote of the Biden team.
“None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well. That given the concerns about his age, my visible success as his vice president was vital. It would serve as a testament to his judgment in choosing me and reassurance that if something happened, the country was in good hands.”
Harris has been promoting her book on a national tour since its release, frequently discussing her time in office and the challenges she faced both inside and outside the Democratic Party.
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