Kamala Harris, once hailed as a historic vice president and a rising star within the Democratic Party, has found herself at the center of a political maelstrom as she embarks on a nationwide tour promoting her new memoir, 107 Days. The tour, which kicked off in late September 2025, has quickly become a lightning rod for controversy, drawing protests, sharp criticism from across the political spectrum, and renewed debate about her legacy and future in American politics.
On September 24, Harris took the stage at New York City’s Town Hall for the first stop of her multi-city book tour. The event was anything but routine. According to USA Today, the evening was repeatedly disrupted by pro-Palestine protesters, with at least three individuals inside the venue accusing Harris of having “blood on her hands” over her administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Security escorted the protesters out as the crowd of nearly 1,500 booed, while a larger group demonstrated outside, prompting an increased police presence.
Harris, undeterred, addressed the interruptions head-on. “I understand your concern and how you feel,” she told one protester, adding, “I think I do, I think I do. And the reality of it is, where we are right now didn’t have to be this way, in terms of a blank check that this president (Trump) has given.” She was quick to remind the audience of her position in the previous administration: “I’m not president right now. There’s nothing I can do.”
The Israel-Hamas war has remained a flashpoint within the Democratic Party since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, and Harris’s stance continues to spark internal debate. As USA Today reported, Harris emphasized her call for an immediate, temporary cease-fire in Gaza during a March 3, 2024, speech on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama—a move that, she revealed, drew sharp criticism from within the Biden administration. “I took a lot of heat from the administration for doing that,” Harris said, reflecting on the fallout from her decision to speak out forcefully about the humanitarian crisis.
Yet the turbulence of the book tour is matched by the controversy swirling around the memoir itself. In 107 Days, Harris offers a candid account of her failed 2024 presidential campaign, including pointed criticism of both her former boss, Joe Biden, and her own vice presidential selection process. She writes that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was “overly ambitious,” and that former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is gay, would have been “too much of a risk” as a running mate alongside a Black woman married to a Jewish man. “We were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man,” Harris wrote, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Part of me wanted to say, ‘Screw it, let’s just do it.’ But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk.”
This rationale has drawn ire from both sides of the aisle. Conservative critics have accused Harris of succumbing to identity politics, while progressives, including media figures like Rachel Maddow, expressed disappointment that Buttigieg’s sexuality was a factor in her decision. The Chicago Tribune editorial board dismissed Harris’s reasoning as misguided, arguing that “middle-of-the-road Americans still approach elections seeing identity markers of race, gender or sexuality as demerits or reasons not to vote for someone is patently absurd.” They further criticized her ultimate choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mate, noting that he failed to attract new voters and was handily outperformed by JD Vance in the vice presidential debate.
Even Harris’s allies have found fault with her approach. Ashley Etienne, her former communications director, told The Wall Street Journal that the memoir was a missed opportunity to highlight the achievements of the Biden administration and Harris’s own legacy as the first female vice president. “I would have advised her to write a different book, one that cements her legacy,” Etienne said. Faiz Shakir, who managed Bernie Sanders’s 2020 campaign, was even more blunt: “Her campaign struggled with being a campaign of conviction, of clarity, of deep, principled positions. It’s a sign of weak leadership to just start blaming these kind of outside actors for your own shortcomings. It hurts the Democratic Party.”
Harris, for her part, has insisted that 107 Days is not a tell-all, but rather a journal of her experience running for president. “It’s about just presenting people with a journal of my experience running for president of the United States,” she told The Wall Street Journal. She also defended her loyalty to Biden in the memoir, writing that while he “got tired,” she never believed he was incapacitated. “If I believed that, I would have said so. As loyal as I am to President Biden, I am more loyal to my country.”
Despite the criticism, Harris remains resolute about her place in the party. In a September 26 interview with The Wall Street Journal, she stated, “I was the Democratic nominee for president. I came close to winning. Of course I do,” when asked if she still considers herself a top leader in the Democratic Party. However, she declined to say whether her book tour is the start of a political comeback or a prelude to a 2028 presidential run.
The book tour itself has become a spectacle, with Harris’s every appearance scrutinized and debated. Conservative columnist Zach Dean, writing in late September, described the tour as “lowkey amazing,” marveling at what he called Harris’s “lies” about the 2024 election being the closest of the century. Dean pointed out that Donald Trump won every swing state and the popular vote by a wide margin, even flipping Gen-Z voters who had long leaned Democratic. “What planet was Kamala on last year?” he quipped, casting doubt on Harris’s portrayal of the campaign’s competitiveness.
Meanwhile, Harris’s post-vice presidency career is also making headlines. She has signed with Creative Artists Agency for speaking and publishing engagements, reportedly demanding $250,000 per speech, according to The Wall Street Journal. This move has further fueled speculation about her future ambitions and her standing within the party.
Harris’s relationship with the Democratic base remains complicated. She has drawn the ire of the party’s left flank, notably for her ambiguous support of socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race. In an MSNBC interview, she referred only to supporting “the Democrat,” but later clarified to The Wall Street Journal, “No, I did endorse Mamdani.” On the ongoing tensions between party moderates and progressives, Harris offered, “There is a lot of consensus around the priorities of this moment, and that’s where I’m focused.”
As the book tour continues, Harris’s future hangs in the balance. Her memoir, and the reaction to it, has laid bare the divisions within the Democratic Party and the challenges facing its former leaders. Whether Harris can parlay her renewed visibility into a lasting political comeback—or whether her tour will mark the final act of her national political career—remains to be seen. For now, she remains a figure who evokes strong feelings on all sides, her every move watched closely by supporters and detractors alike.
In a political era defined by polarization and shifting allegiances, Kamala Harris’s journey from vice president to embattled author is a story that continues to unfold, one headline at a time.
