Podcaster Jon Slavet joined Los Angeles anchor Elex Michaelson this week to talk about his recent interview with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, a longtime political mentor to Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to a clip taken from the interview, Brown is seen telling Slavet, “She may not want to run for governor of the state of California. That may not be where she should be going. I think it’s going to be difficult for her to win that job.”
Michaelson went on to press Slavet on his conversation with Brown regarding his onetime love interest: “So what did Willie Brown say to you about Kamala Harris? Because there was a lot there.”
“Yeah, well, first of all, kudos to Willie—age 91, still going strong, still sharp. I mean, I think that’s amazing. You know, he, in effect, said he doesn’t think governor is a fit for her,” Slavet replied.
“He talked about her strengths in the legal world, but not as an executive, which to me was pretty stunning because this is a guy who knows her very well. He’s a legend in Democratic politics, right? He’s been a mentor to Kamala. And he actually cares about the future of California authentically, and he in effect said she should try something different,” Slavet added.
“And he also said to you that he told her that when Joe Biden offered her the vice presidency, that she should turn it down and try to be the attorney general instead,” Michaelson responded.
“He did. First, he chuckled. He’s got a great kind of knowing chuckle. And he said, ‘I got in trouble for this when I said it.’ But what he told me is that when she was one of the final five and Biden was reviewing the final candidates, he recommended to her when she asked him for his advice that he suggest that Biden nominate her as the attorney general,” Slavet said.
“And it goes back to this theme of he believes that Kamala is better in the legal world, not as an executive. And that’s so important right now in terms of what California needs, which he and I talked about further in the episode,” Slavet added.
Michaelson then said, attempting to solicit Slavet’s response on whether Harris has any political future: “And he said that as attorney general, she might end up on the Supreme Court, which is where he thinks that she would be a better fit. He also said after that conversation, she never called him again. So that was apparently not the advice she wanted to hear. Obviously, she took the vice presidency, tried to become president. You’ve been talking to people all over the state about Kamala Harris. What are you hearing from people?”
Slavet said, “Well, I mean, as of a few months ago, when she was still funded by the US government, right? The VP, I think, has six months of support from the US government…has a team, Secret Service, et cetera, protection, et cetera. Now that’s evaporated. But she was doing a lot of polling to understand her image and standing nationally in 2028. And my understanding from people close to her is that it does not look good.”
Slavet then said: “That national standing and running again nationally does not look good for her. So the obvious question is, what does she do next? And given that California is such a Democratic state, the machine is so strong, the logical question is will she throw her hat into the ring?”
Reports for weeks have speculated that Harris is weighing whether to run for California governor or hold off and make another bid for the White House. At the same time, her polling for both positions has been falling.
