Kamala Harris dismisses critics, says she can cook husband’s favorite food and be president

The former vice president says she still goes “back and forth” on a 2028 presidential run as some Democrats push for new faces in the party.

Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t yet prepared to decide whether to run for president again in 2028; however, America’s highest-ranking woman in U.S. political history isn’t a fan of critics who believe she shouldn’t run and instead perhaps stay at home and cook for her husband.

“I’m sure there are many who think that I should just sit at home and eat bonbons and cook Doug’s favorite foods,” Harris recently told CNN, referring to a Wall Street Journal article that reported her husband, Doug Emhoff, privately told others he preferred she didn’t run. The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee added, “I could cook Doug’s favorite foods and do this.”

Harris, who has been traveling across the country to campaign for Democrats on the ballot this midterm election, has made it no secret that she is considering a third run for president. She first sought the White House in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, ending her campaign before votes were cast, and again in 2024 after former President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential general election, just 107 days before Election Day.

If she seeks the presidency again, Harris tells CNN, “If I run, my motivation is not to beat other Democrats. It’s to actually do the job.” However, she candidly shared, “I go back and forth. I honestly go back and forth. There’s so many factors.”

Harris has been hinting at and repeatedly asked about a 2028 run; however, the prospect of her entering the Democratic field has been met with pushback from some political donors and even potential rivals like Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who argued that the party needs “new faces and big and bold ideas.”

“It’s a free country. If she decides to run, that is her choice,” said Slotkin, who argued that the presence of articles and “leaks” asking “should she, shouldn’t she” is evidence of that tension. She added, “Even if some of those more traditional folks you’ve heard of get in, it just won’t work.”

Democratic strategist Joel Payne acknowledges that some of the political insider pushback against Harris comes from a noticeable hostility toward the idea of Kamala Harris running for president again.

“The peer pressure and social pressure feel a bit out of the norm,” he told theGrio. “It is normal for people to be like ‘wait and see,’ and to not immediately jump to those folks.”

Payne, who worked on both the 2008 presidential campaign of John Edwards and the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, said, “The kind of negativity [against Harris] feels a little different.” He added that the public should be “thoughtful about where that pressure is coming from.”

Despite the pressure within the D.C. political bubble, Harris remains popular among Democratic voters around the country, most especially Black voters. Harris tops nearly every poll when voters are asked who they’d prefer in a 2028 Democratic primary.

What is clear is that Kamala Harris still has a belief that she can someday be president. But she says her ambition is not driven by power but by the people.

“I feel so strongly and therefore am compelled, and maybe propelled, into doing this, because I know that I can help,” she told CNN. “And how can I sit at home in the comfort of my home when I know there are things I can do to help? I don’t know any other life but tha…I don’t know any life that is not about, ‘There’s a problem, what can I do to fix it?’”

Regardless of what Harris decides, the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls in 2028 is expected to be crowded. Other potential contenders include California Governor Gavin Newsom (who said he won’t run if Harris does), Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Raphael Warnock, U.S. Reps. Ro Khanna and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Payne tells The Grio, “My biggest, strongest reaction in this moment is to give voters as many options as humanly possible. Let them see everything. Let them consider everybody. Let Democratic voters have the entire field at their display.”

He continued, “There’s an opening on both sides for the first time since 2008. It’s a pretty unique opportunity, I think, for Democratic voters to reset the foundation of the Democratic coalition, and I think it’s healthy.”