Kamala Harris says she’s not running for office again because the system is ‘broken'

Kamala Harris says she has no intention, at least for now, of returning to what she calls a “broken” system of U.S. politics.

In her first interview since losing the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump, the former vice president spoke with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show Thursday night. Harris, who stepped in as the Democratic nominee after Joe Biden dropped out of the race, had announced just a day earlier that she would not run for California governor. She told Colbert that her decision was about something more fundamental than simply weighing another political bid — implicitly leaving open the question of a potential 2028 presidential run.

“Recently I made the decision that I just — for now — I don’t want to go back in the system. I think it’s broken,” she said, drawing a groan from the audience. When Colbert later called the remark “harrowing,” she responded: “Well, but it’s also evident, isn’t it?”

Calling herself a “devout public servant,” Harris said she had always believed that, despite democracy’s fragility, American institutions were strong enough to protect the nation’s core principles. “I think right now they’re not as strong as they need to be,” she said. “And for now I don’t want to go back into that system.”

Her appearance on The Late Show came with a pointed backdrop: the program was canceled last month by CBS, which cited financial strain. The move drew widespread criticism as politically motivated, particularly because it followed Colbert’s sharp criticism of CBS and parent company Paramount Global for settling a $16 million lawsuit with Trump. The suit stemmed from a 60 Minutes interview with Harris during the campaign that Trump alleged was edited in her favor.

Neither Harris nor Colbert addressed that controversy on Thursday, but Harris did speak forcefully about what she described as widespread “capitulation” to Trump’s second administration.

When Colbert invited her to say “I told you so” after her earlier warnings about Trump’s policies — including Medicaid cuts, defiance of court orders, and “massive tax cuts to the rich” — Harris said: “But Stephen, what I did not predict was the capitulation.”

“Perhaps it’s naive of me,” she continued, “but there should be many who consider themselves guardians of our system and our democracy who just capitulated, and I didn’t see that coming.”