Former Vice President Kamala Harris has opened up about her frustrations with Tim Walz’s debate performance and the challenges of picking him as her running mate. In her new book 107 Days, Harris shares unfiltered details about what unfolded during the 1 October 2024 debate, when Walz went head-to-head with then-Senator JD Vance.
Harris explained that she saw the debate as a crucial moment since she would not have another chance to face Donald Trump directly. That meant Walz needed to act as the “closer.” But watching from home, Harris admitted she quickly grew frustrated.
“When Tim fell for it and started nodding and smiling at J.D.’s fake bipartisanship, I moaned to Doug, ‘What is happening?’” she recalled. She even found herself shouting at the television, “You’re not there to make friends with the guy who is attacking your running mate”, reported the New York Post.
Harris noted that Walz had always worried he was not a strong debater. She had brushed off his concerns, believing his sharp, energetic presence at rallies would carry over onto the debate stage. Instead, she wrote, he leaned heavily on defending his record as governor and stumbled when asked about a past claim that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests. In reality, Walz had not yet left the United States at that time. Rather than correcting himself cleanly, Harris said he went off track, talking about biking in Nebraska.
Her disappointment deepened when she watched a Saturday Night Live sketch lampooning the debate, where actors playing her and her husband Doug spat out wine in disbelief. Harris admitted she did not actually spit out her drink, but the skit’s portrayal of her evening felt painfully accurate.
Despite the rough showing, Harris reassured Walz that the election was not decided by that debate and polling barely shifted. Still, she acknowledged the toll the campaign took on him and his family, writing that the very people who give strength to a candidate can also become a source of vulnerability under the spotlight. “Tim was outraged by the unfairness,” she said, pointing out that relentless attacks wore him down.
Harris described Vance as a “shape-shifter” who leaned on a mild and disarming style that masked his barbs, calling his approach “petulant” and strategic. She believed Walz was caught off guard by it.
She also reflected on advice she once received early in her career. “When I was a newly elected DA, an elderly gentleman in Atlanta pulled me aside with a bit of advice: ‘Baby, you be sure and don’t make it look too easy,’” she wrote. “This is not a genteel profession. You must be ready to brawl.”
The book also lays out how she eventually chose Walz over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Senior staff strongly backed Walz, and her family leaned the same way, though her husband Doug had favored Shapiro.
In the end, Harris said she wanted space to decide on her own. She even distracted herself by cooking. “I told my staff and family that I didn’t want any more input, and I went to do something practical: I made a tasty rub and seasoned a pork roast. By the time I went to bed, I’d decided on Walz.”
For Harris, the decision was hers alone, but the fallout from Walz’s debate night showed just how tough those choices can be once the campaign spotlight hits.
