Rachel Maddow Calls Kamala Interview ‘Too Safe,’ Wishes She Pushed for Real Answers

Rachel Maddow said this week that she wished she had pushed former Vice President Kamala Harris further during their September interview about Harris’ campaign memoir, “107 Days.”

Maddow discussed the exchange during a conversation with former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison on his “At Our Table” podcast, saying she felt Harris held back on camera, as reported by The New York Post.

Maddow explained that her off-camera conversations with Harris had been more direct and candid, and she believed that tone came through in the memoir.

“But in the interview, with the camera rolling, she’s being careful. And I wish I would have just kind of pulled the — and said, like, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. I read the book. I’ve talked to you off camera. I know what you really think about these things. Like, no, stop being so safe. Like, let’s just, let’s get real,” she said of their MSNBC exchange.

The network has since rebranded as MS NOW.

Harris’ memoir offered several detailed reflections on her decisions and internal deliberations during the 2024 presidential campaign. Maddow said she wished she had pressed Harris more bluntly in the moment.

“You may be running for president again, in which case you can clean this up then. But, like, let’s not, let’s just be messy. Let’s just do it. Let’s just put it all out on the floor. Because I know what she is capable of in terms of just cutting right to it. I wish I would have pushed her more to do that rather than receiving the way she conducted that interview,” she said.

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Maddow said the interview was “fine” but ultimately too safe. “In my mind, walking away from that interview, I felt like, ‘Oh, I could have punctured it somehow,’” she said.

One exchange Maddow highlighted involved Harris passing over former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during her 2024 ticket-selection process.

Harris wrote that Buttigieg “would have been an ideal partner” if she were a “straight White man.” Maddow told Harris during the interview that the line was “hard to hear” and asked her to expand on it.

Harris rejected the idea that she excluded Buttigieg because of his sexuality.

“That’s not what I said, that he couldn’t be on the ticket because he is gay,” Harris responded. She said her concern centered on the political climate.

“My point is, as I write in the book, is that, I was clear that in 107 days, in one of the most hotly contested elections for president of the United States against someone like Donald Trump, who knows no floor, to be a Black woman running for president of the United States, and as a vice presidential running mate, a gay man. With the stakes being so high, it made me very sad. But I also realized it would be a real risk,” she told Maddow.

Harris also wrote in the memoir about concerns she had with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whom she vetted as another possible running mate.

According to her account, she believed Shapiro asked her staff several questions about “how he might arrange to get Pennsylvania artists’ work on loan from the Smithsonian.”

She also wrote that he appeared eager to be involved in every decision. Harris said she reminded him, “A vice president is not a co-president.”

Shapiro was asked about Harris’ claims during an interview with The Atlantic. He appeared surprised by the account.

“She wrote that in her book? That’s complete and utter bullsh*t,” he said. Shapiro said the claims were false and added, “I mean, she’s trying to sell books and cover her a**,” before correcting himself.

“I shouldn’t say ‘cover her a**.’ I think that’s not appropriate.”

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