Representative Jim Clyburn says the Kamala Harris presidential run in 2024 was not a Democratic mistake, despite her loss to Donald Trump.
The South Carolina congressman addressed Harris’s political future while speaking with Charlie in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, September 16. Asked whether the former vice president could return to the Democratic ticket in 2028, Clyburn did not rule it out.
Why Clyburn rejected the criticism
The question suggested Democrats should avoid making the same mistake twice, pointing directly to Harris’s defeat by Trump. Clyburn quickly challenged that premise rather than accepting the nomination as a failed experiment.
His response was straightforward: choosing Harris the first time was not a mistake. An election loss, in his view, does not prove that the candidate should never try again. Politics, conveniently, offers considerably more retries than most professions.
Clyburn supported that argument with his own career. He noted that he needed several attempts before winning elected office, using his experience to show that an initial defeat does not necessarily settle a politician’s future.
Could Harris appear on the 2028 ticket?
Clyburn stopped short of predicting that Harris would run in 2028 or saying she would win if she did. Instead, he left the possibility open while defending her 2024 candidacy.
That distinction matters. His comments were not an endorsement of a declared campaign, and the exchange provided no indication that Harris has made a decision about another presidential bid. They did, however, show that at least one influential Democrat is unwilling to treat her defeat as automatic disqualification.
For now, Harris’s place in the next presidential race remains speculative. Clyburn’s position is simply that losing once should not close the file, especially when his own electoral history required more than one attempt.
