• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
SuccessKamala Harris

What Kamala Harris is doing right—and wrong—in the lead-up to Election Day, according to former press sec. Jen Psaki

By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 25, 2024, 5:02 AM ET
AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 10: Jen Psaki speaks onstage during the 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 10, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Amy E. Price/Getty Images for SXSW)
Kamala Harris “is basically saying to people, ‘You’re invited into this party. We want you to be a part of this,’” Psaki said.Amy E. Price—Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Jen Psaki, a former communications lead for President Barack Obama and first White House press secretary for President Joe Biden, thinks the Democrats have a strong chance of taking it all in November.

Recommended Video

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign is focused pretty squarely on the right strategy at the moment, Psaki, currently the host of MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, told Fortune in an interview Wednesday. Namely, appealing to elusive undecided voters. 

The Harris team is “working to convert and convince and persuade voters who may not have made a final decision,” explained Psaki. One such effort in that direction was the Democratic nominee’s recent series of campaign events with Liz Cheney, aimed at galvanizing never-Trump Republicans, mainly women. 

One potentially surprising roadblock: Harris isn’t Biden, and Biden remains “very popular among many, many Democrats.” 

The President’s decision this summer to end his campaign only made him more popular, Psaki said. “He is very popular among older white voters, which is a group of voters that [Harris] needs to continue to expand her base of support with.”

Any candidate, in the weeks leading up to Election Day, shouldn’t be focusing just on galvanizing their own base and mobilizing people to show up at the ballot box—though that’s certainly “always a big message,” she added.

The crux of Harris’s issue, in these crucial final days, is to make clear to the Biden lovers out there—and there are many in the Democratic party, Psaki said—that she values and respects her predecessor, and she’s honored to be his potential successor.

But she has to toe the line and also express that she’ll “pave a different road in some areas,” Psaki said. “I think that is a tricky road, but it is certainly possible to implement.”

Courting the never-Trump Republicans

Harris “is basically saying to people, ‘You’re invited into this party. We want you to be a part of this.’” Psaki said. “That, to me, is a recognition that in order to win, you have to expand the base of the electorate.”

There’s another factor the Harris campaign would do well to keep top of mind, Psaki added. Aside from being infamously bombastic and off-the-cuff, Trump is still an “incumbent of sorts.” That advantage makes him even less fit to be underestimated. 

“He’s a former president; he has a high floor of support, meaning there are people who support him, even if, as he were to say, he were to shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue,” Psaki said. “That bends the mind—I think we can all acknowledge that—but he does have that base of support.” 

That base is largely made up of people who feel “forgotten, disappointed, and disgruntled with the government,” she has observed. “And Trump has tapped into and spoken to that pretty consistently since he came up that elevator.” 

Psaki contends Trump isn’t actually fighting for those people: people “living paycheck to paycheck” and those who “feel disappointed by the system.” Trump has also benefited from a “huge amount of disinformation.” 

Nonetheless, “sometimes people forget that he is a former president,” she said. “He was the leader of the Republican Party. Has been for nearly a decade, and there is a base of support that comes with that.”

Making her own name

One thing everyone can agree on, across party lines: There’s no precedent for the current moment. That’s one of Harris’s main challenges in her run against Trump, Psaki said, “even though Harris has far better policies.” 

Then there’s the thorny issue of carrying on the best of Biden’s legacy, while also carving out Harris’s own identity with a newer, younger approach. “She needs to be mindful that [she] also was his vice president—still is his vice president,” Psaki said. “She can’t not run on the things that they have done together, because that is part of her qualification. But it’s not a carbon copy, because events in the world and issues people are grappling with, and circumstances, and even your own positions evolve.” 

Take gay marriage as an example. “Barack Obama was not openly for gay marriage; neither was Joe Biden in the first [Obama] term,” Psaki said. “That changed.” 

A new identity

Then of course there’s Harris’s identity as a Black woman nearly 20 years younger than the president. “She inherently comes to every discussion and debate from a different viewpoint,” Psaki said. “And that does matter, as somebody who sat at a table where I look different sometimes, just as being a woman, from other people at the table. That perspective does matter, and I think it’s important for people to remember.”

But the issues of policy may prove to be a consistent thorn in Harris’s side. “As the sitting vice president, just on a technical level, I think there’s a lot of desire to hear and understand from people who are very disappointed,” Psaki said. In particular: Harris’s plans with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian disaster. 

“Negotiations are happening about how to bring about a ceasefire, bring an end to the conflict and the war and the suffering in Israel and Gaza,” Psaki said. But Harris can’t come out with a different position than Biden has. “She’s currently the sitting vice president. She’s not just somebody who primaries the president. So that’s a challenge.”

The Fortune 500 Innovation Forum will convene Fortune 500 executives, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to help define what’s next for the American economy, Nov. 16-17 in Detroit. Apply here.
About the Author
By Jane Thier
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Success

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Success

Nike’s earning numbers exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. But CEO Elliott Hill’s next test is the World Cup
RetailNike
Nike’s earning numbers exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. But CEO Elliott Hill’s next test is the World Cup
By Mia OsmonbekovJune 30, 2026
8 hours ago
Young worker at desk
SuccessGen Z
Remote-first fintech giant Revolut is making the office compulsory for new Gen Z grads—and they’ll earn flexibility like their peers after one year
By Emma BurleighJune 30, 2026
12 hours ago
Henry Kravis
SuccessCareers
KKR cofounder once impressed Roy Disney with a habit most analysts skipped—it turned a 1-hour meeting into all-day mentorship: ‘I thought I’d died and gone to heaven’
By Preston ForeJune 30, 2026
13 hours ago
Bill Gates (left) and Warren Buffett
SuccessWarren Buffett
Warren Buffett breaks from a ‘lifetime’ pledge to the Gates Foundation as the Epstein fallout deepens
By Sydney LakeJune 30, 2026
14 hours ago
kean
PoliticsElections
New Jersey Republican to reappear in Congress after unexplained 4-month absence
By Mike Catalini and The Associated PressJune 30, 2026
16 hours ago
swiss
EuropeHeat
It’s so hot in Switzerland that yodelers are standing in fountains
By Jez Fielder and The Associated PressJune 30, 2026
16 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
6 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
2 days ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
4 days ago
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
AI
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
By Catherina GioinoJune 29, 2026
1 day ago
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
Environment
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
By Catherina GioinoJune 28, 2026
3 days ago
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
Commentary
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
By Marc AndersenJune 30, 2026
17 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.