Politics'Gaslit' Kamala Harris 'Completely Shocked' She Lost 2024 Election to Donald Trump
Kamala Harris felt 'gaslit' and was 'completely shocked' after losing the November 2024 election to President Donald Trump.
April 6 2025, Published 3:01 p.m. ET
The Democratic nominee for the November 2024 election, Kamala Harris, was sure she’d win against President Donald Trump.
Though Harris led the polls with a 51 percent average on the night before the election, the former vice president was ultimately defeated by Trump. The race was a blowout, with Harris winning 226 Electoral College votes compared to Trump’s 312 votes.
Harris’ campaign had her pegged as the 2024 President-elect, making her confident as voters made their decision. “Make no mistake, we will win,” the former vice president said at a rally in Georgia.
Authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes said Kamala Harris was 'completely shocked' she lost to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Having been given profuse support from the American people before the election, Harris reportedly felt “gaslit” after losing to her Republican candidate.
According to the authors of Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House, Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, Harris was stunned by the election’s outcome.
While talking on the “Somebody’s Gotta Win” podcast, Allen and Parnes told host Tara Palmeri that the former vice president attempted to initiate a “recount” after Trump’s victory.
The former vice president reportedly asked for a vote 'recount' after losing.
“She was completely shocked, and Tim Walz was shocked. We take you inside his hotel room at the Mayflower, and he's sitting there stunned. He has no words,” Parnes recalled. “And people are kind of explaining to him, same thing with her. And she's like, ‘Are you sure? Have we done a recount? Should we do a recount?’”
Parnes added: "They thought that they were going to win. And so, you know, when they come back now and say, 'Oh no, we didn't really have a chance.' No, that's not what they were thinking — they thought they were going to win."
During her campaign, Kamala Harris told voters at a Georgia rally, 'We will win!'
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The author told the podcast host that Harris’ team felt deceived by the American people after gauging a hopeful outcome from reactions at the former vice president’s rallies.
“Kamala Harris was looking at her crowd size and she was looking, you know, they felt like the vibe was strong,” Parnes said. “And, you know, people were saying, ‘Oh, we have more boots on the ground. We're doing better in fundraising.’” And she bought all of that. She bought the hype."
Kamala Harris' senior campaign aide said the former vice president's answers on 'The View' were not 'practiced.'
Stephanie Cutter, Harris’ senior campaign adviser, said on the same podcast that Harris "wasn't willing" to distance herself from Joe Biden. The former vice president reportedly thought breaking away from him would create a "different set of problems" for her campaign.
Cutter, who was interviewed for Allen and Parnes’ new book released in April, also commented on how damaging Harris’ The View appearance was to her campaign, as it likely made her slighted by voters.
The former vice president was given 226 Electoral votes compared to Donald Trump's 312 votes.
Before the election, the former vice president told the show’s liberal hosts that nothing “comes to mind” when thinking about how she’d handle her presidency in comparison to Biden.
Cutter told the authors that Harris’ comments on The View weren’t in the plan and might have ruined her chance at becoming the first female president. “What the h--- was that?” Cutter recalled asking herself. “That’s not what we practiced.”
