The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Kamala Harris: America Is At Breaking Point & I'm Deeply Concerned About The State Of The Country!

October 30, 2025

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  • Vice President Kamala Harris expressed deep disappointment and anger regarding President Biden's behavior on the day of her debate with Trump, interpreting his call as self-motivated. 
  • Harris deeply regrets not appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast during the campaign, viewing it as a missed opportunity to reach certain audiences, despite internal advice against it. 
  • The experience of losing the 2024 election brought a level of shock and emotion for Harris comparable only to the grief she felt when her mother died, leading to a profound concern for the country's future. 
  • Kamala Harris described the shock and profound pain she felt upon realizing the 2024 election loss, equating the emotional impact to the grief she felt when her mother passed away, due to her knowledge of the harm she believed would follow. 
  • Harris believes the Democratic Party must focus on bold, immediate solutions like family policy and addressing the concerns of younger generations (like climate anxiety) to win back voters, rather than overlooking the systemic nature of the political challenges. 
  • Despite the pain of the election outcome, Harris does not regret running for President in the 2024 primary, citing the positive impact her campaign had in inspiring others, though she wishes they had more time to campaign. 

Segments

Post-Election Shock and Grief
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(00:01:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The emotional impact of the election loss was comparable to the grief experienced after her mother’s death.
  • Summary: Kamala Harris described being in a state of shock immediately following the election loss. She stated this emotion was similar only to the grief she felt when her mother passed away. This experience fueled her concern for the country’s future direction.
Current Emotional State
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(00:02:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris feels a mix of gratitude, deep trouble, disappointment, and anxiety regarding the current state of the country and world.
  • Summary: Despite her family being in good health, Harris expressed feeling extremely troubled and disappointed about the state of the country. She anticipates that the situation may get worse before it improves, keeping her and others on edge. She feels a sense of responsibility given the potential to have intervened in history.
Foundational Influences and Service
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(00:05:12)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris’s drive for service and protecting people stems from her parents’ involvement in the civil rights movement and her mother’s experiences.
  • Summary: Her parents, who met while involved in the civil rights movement, instilled in her the duty to participate in fighting for justice and equality. Her desire to protect people is linked to being the eldest child, tasked with looking out for her sister, and witnessing how her mother, a short woman with an accent, was treated.
Career Milestones and Motivation
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(00:08:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris’s career focus on public practice was driven by a desire to protect people and ensure their dignity, not financial gain.
  • Summary: She rose to become the first woman and first Black person to hold the roles of Deputy District Attorney and California’s Attorney General, leading major reforms. She views her strength as a desire to solve problems, which leads her to constantly move to the next issue without self-congratulation. Her specialization in child sexual assault cases exposed her to the worst aspects of human behavior.
Managing Stress and Responsibility
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(00:11:07)
  • Key Takeaway: A consistent daily workout routine is a core principle Harris uses to manage the immense stress and responsibility of her career.
  • Summary: Harris maintains a high personal standard and is a self-described perfectionist, often thinking about what more she could have done each day. She manages pressure by working out every morning, viewing it as essential for mind, body, and soul. She has learned to be more realistic about what she can change, allowing her to place effort more efficiently.
Path to Presidential Ambition
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(00:15:10)
  • Key Takeaway: The decision to run for President was not an early ambition but was first suggested to her while she was serving in the Senate.
  • Summary: The idea of running for President was first planted when a friend suggested it during a dinner with her husband while she was a Senator. Her experience as Vice President, meeting over 150 world leaders and negotiating deals, solidified her awareness that she possessed the necessary experience to do the job effectively.
Imposter Syndrome and Humility
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(00:16:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Climbing higher in leadership often reveals that peers lack inherent superpowers, but humility is crucial when vested with great power.
  • Summary: Harris experienced imposter syndrome when first elected DA, starting with low poll numbers, but she believes humility is beneficial when holding power. She notes that the higher one climbs, the more one realizes that others are not genetically gifted or superhuman. This realization is liberating because it removes self-imposed ceilings on achievement.
Navigating Prejudice and Earning Respect
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(00:21:09)
  • Key Takeaway: To counter being discounted due to appearance or identity, Harris advises walking into rooms with confidence, supported by the belief instilled by mentors.
  • Summary: When facing situations where people expect her boss or discount her based on appearance, she reminds herself of the people proud of her presence, like her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Wilson. A key to success is having people who convinced you that you were special and believing them. She also stresses the importance of having a clear concept of what one intends to communicate when speaking.
Dropping Out of 2019 Race
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(00:28:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Kamala Harris dropped out of the 2019 presidential race primarily because the campaign ran out of money.
  • Summary: The main reason for withdrawing from the presidential race was the lack of funding. Following this, she received a call from Joe Biden, then the Democratic nominee, asking her to be his running mate, which she accepted as a great honor. The vetting process for the VP role was extensive, involving a nine-hour interview covering all aspects of her life and finances.
Staff Dynamics and Loyalty Issues
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(00:33:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Staff members within the President’s circle actively suppressed Harris’s accomplishments and added fuel to negative narratives because they viewed her as a threat.
  • Summary: The lore suggests incoming chiefs of staff are warned to watch the Vice President, and Harris was acutely aware she had to prove her loyalty after running against Biden. She felt staff were counterproductively dimming her shine because they operated under a zero-sum mentality where her success meant their perceived loss. This lack of promotion for her accomplishments was frustrating and painful, as it undermined her leadership credibility.
Complicated Relationship with Biden
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(00:38:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris has a good relationship with President Biden, but there were specific instances, like the call before her debate, where he greatly disappointed and angered her.
  • Summary: Harris described her relationship with Biden as very complicated, despite having affection for him. The most significant disappointment occurred on the morning of her debate with Trump when Biden called to discuss negative comments being made about her in Pennsylvania, which she felt was unnecessary given the high stakes. Her takeaway was that his motivation, even in that moment, was self-focused, as he needed her to win to preserve his legacy.
Debating Trump and Misdirection Tactics
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(00:49:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris’s strategy for debating Trump was to intentionally have fun, as the person enjoying the competition often wins, while recognizing Trump’s use of outrageous claims for misdirection.
  • Summary: Harris wrote a smiley face on her podium pad to commit to having fun during the debate, believing that enjoying the competition is key to winning against an opponent like Trump. She identified Trump’s tactic of saying outrageous things, like the false claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets, as a form of misdirection to avoid discussing practical issues like lowering prices. This aligns with the marketing principle that useless absurdity defines a brand more than useful practicality.
Winning Against Emotional Warfare
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(00:57:59)
  • Key Takeaway: The Democratic Party faces a challenge winning against fear-based emotional appeals when their strategy relies on logic, necessitating a focus on the media’s role in information dissemination.
  • Summary: Emotional and fear-based messaging, like stories about immigrants, is more memorable to the brain’s emotional center than rational statistics about economic recovery. Harris stressed that a major factor is whether all parties are working with the same set of information, noting that foreign interference specifically targeted demographics susceptible to distrusting the government. The Democratic Party must address the role of social media and corporate media in spreading disinformation.
Regret Over Skipping Joe Rogan
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(01:01:39)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris regrets not appearing on Joe Rogan’s show, viewing podcasting as a powerful, democratized medium essential for reaching open-minded listeners, despite scheduling trade-offs.
  • Summary: Harris stated she wanted to do Joe Rogan’s show, believing podcasting is a powerful medium where people get information, and she wanted to make her case to his audience. The decision not to go was based on the return on investment calculation regarding time spent traveling versus campaigning in swing states. She believes that going into uncomfortable or biased environments is necessary for anyone in her line of work.
Future Presidential Ambitions
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(01:07:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris has not decided whether she will run for President again in 2028, stating she is currently focused on her book, though she acknowledges current favorable polling.
  • Summary: Harris confirmed she wrote her book, ‘107 Days,’ to ensure her voice is present in the historical record of those 107 days. When asked directly about running again, she stated she does not know honestly, though she is aware of her leading position in current Democratic polls. She emphasized that she has never had the luxury of avoiding uncomfortable situations in her career.
Future Presidential Run Speculation
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(01:07:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Kamala Harris is currently focused on promoting her book and avoiding transactional political behavior when considering a 2028 presidential run.
  • Summary: Harris stated that the case for running again hinges on her ability to make a significant, uplifting difference for the country’s trajectory. She is deliberately avoiding transactional behavior, which is why she is not campaigning for votes right now. The decision for 2028 remains open, pending future developments over the next few months.
Challenges of Public Leadership
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(01:10:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Enduring public life, especially politics, requires a motivation larger than ego, as leaders must accept being misunderstood and hated by some.
  • Summary: Public success exposes leaders to being misunderstood, which is an awful feeling, particularly in the current environment where some people will hate them without knowing them. To endure the process and the job, the motivation must be for something bigger than personal power or ego. This necessity for clear purpose is crucial for surviving the scrutiny.
Election Night Shock and Consequences
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(01:12:03)
  • Key Takeaway: The moment Harris realized the election was lost was when she was told 200,000 votes could not be found, leading to a state of shock comparable only to the grief of her mother’s death.
  • Summary: Harris was in a state of shock on election night, repeatedly saying, “My God, my God, my God,” because she knew the harm that would befall the country and its people under the outcome. She views the resulting destruction as extraordinary, citing issues like the weaponization of the DOJ, attacks on education funding (IEPs), and rising costs for working people. She stressed that the Democratic Party must recognize the threat is a decades-long agenda (like Project 2025), not just one person.
Democratic Party Strategy Reflection
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(01:17:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris believes the Democratic Party erred by not prioritizing immediate family policy issues over infrastructure and CHIPS Act achievements during the campaign.
  • Summary: The Democratic Party needs to ‘get their shit together’ to avoid losing the game of chess again, acknowledging they played it wrong. If she could redo the campaign, Harris would have led with family policy, including the child tax credit, affordable childcare, and paid family leave, as these addressed immediate needs. She also noted a perception that the left is seen as the enemy of entrepreneurship, citing the mistake of not inviting Elon Musk to a White House event with other EV manufacturers.
Boldness and Communication Shift
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(01:20:57)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris advocates for bold political moves, such as lowering the voting age to 16, to engage Gen Z voters who are deeply concerned about climate change and the future workforce.
  • Summary: Harris suggests reducing the voting age to 16 because Gen Z is disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and economic uncertainty, making them rightly impatient with traditional leadership. She noted that politicians are influenced by voting groups and large donors, emphasizing the need to focus on strengthening voter turnout. She also acknowledged her own communication has become more unfiltered and bold, which she attributes partly to the unpolished nature of podcasting.
Regrets and Campaign Impact
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(01:29:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris does not regret running in the 2024 primary despite the outcome, but she regrets not having more time, as the campaign inspired many people to pursue public service or action.
  • Summary: The campaign ignited something in many people, leading to individuals deciding to run for office or pursue law school because of her example. She views the experience as having ’turned something on’ in people, fostering optimism that must not be defeated, even in loss. The process of writing the book served as a cathartic way to process the election night experience, which she and her husband had avoided discussing for months.
Support System and Grief Processing
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(01:31:45)
  • Key Takeaway: Harris credits her husband, Doug Emhoff, as her ‘rock’ and emphasizes the necessity of having a supportive, honest core circle to navigate the highs and lows of life and ambition.
  • Summary: Emhoff provided crucial support, though both were in shock immediately following the election results, not discussing the night until Harris began writing her book. She advises that anyone pursuing success needs intentional relationships with people who understand their journey, can laugh with them, and will pick them up after a fall. Harris experienced post-campaign depression, similar to ‘gold medal depression,’ due to the sudden cessation of high-adrenaline functioning.
Mother’s Influence and Legacy
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(01:40:50)
  • Key Takeaway: Kamala Harris’s mother, who had a fiercely combative nature, would be immensely proud of her daughter’s career but would likely need to be talked down from reacting strongly to current political events.
  • Summary: Harris constantly reflects on her mother’s spirit, noting that her mother’s nature was to ‘kill everybody’ when faced with adversity, which is why she couldn’t be part of her early campaign safe space. Her mother smiled approvingly when Harris relayed that opponents said they would ‘kick her ass’ during her Attorney General campaign. Harris concludes that experiencing profound love, like that for her mother, means accepting the profound loss when it occurs.