In her upcoming memoir, 107 Days, former Vice President Kamala Harris recounts a tense phone call with then-President Joe Biden just hours before her high-stakes debate against Donald Trump during her 2024 presidential campaign.
Harris, 60, writes that she was in her Philadelphia hotel room on Sept. 10, 2024, with rollers in her hair and makeup completed, when Biden requested a call. Initially, she says, she appreciated the gesture, interpreting it as a boost of support ahead of the debate.
But the conversation quickly shifted. According to Harris, after offering a brief good-luck message with “little warmth in his voice,” Biden raised concerns about rumors he had heard regarding Harris’ campaign. He told her that his brother had suggested she had been speaking negatively about him, which, he claimed, had led influential figures in Philadelphia to view the Harris-Walz campaign unfavorably.
“[Biden] wasn’t inclined to believe it, he claimed, but he thought I should know in case my team had been encouraging me to put daylight between the two of us,” Harris writes.
When Harris suggested meeting with Philadelphia powerbrokers directly to clarify the matter, she says Biden shifted the conversation to his own experiences debating Trump. He allegedly recounted his prior debates, including how he had performed in June 2024 while “not feeling well,” and insisted that his final debate missteps “hadn’t hurt him with the electorate.” Harris admits, “I was barely listening.”
“I just couldn’t understand why he would call me, right now, and make it all about himself,” she writes, noting the distraction of worrying about “hostile powerbrokers in the biggest city of the most important swing state.”
Harris says her husband, Doug Emhoff, recognized how “angry and disappointed” she was after the call and encouraged her to “let it go” to focus on the debate.
While the book positions the call in the quiet lead-up to the debate, the exact timeline is unclear. Biden told reporters around 4:45 p.m. on debate day that he had already spoken with Harris, while the debate aired at 9 p.m.
Biden’s spokesperson declined to comment on Harris’ account.
107 Days also details other moments of tension between Harris and members of Biden’s team during his initial reelection campaign. In an excerpt published by The Atlantic on Sept. 10, Harris reflected on internal discussions about whether Biden should seek reelection. She writes that while some considered advising him against it, the prevailing sentiment in the administration appeared to accept it as “Joe and Jill [Biden]’s decision.” She adds, “Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.”
Biden ultimately withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, 2024, amid mounting pressure, quickly endorsing Harris to take his place on the Democratic ticket.
Harris announced the memoir in July, describing it as a candid account of the 107 days of her historic presidential campaign. “Since leaving office, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on those days and with candor and reflection, I’ve written a behind-the-scenes account of that journey,” she said. “I believe there’s value in sharing what I saw, what I learned, and what it will take to move forward.”
Harris will launch a 15-city book tour on Sept. 24, spanning the U.S., Canada, and England, where she will discuss “how we collectively chart a blueprint that sets an alternative vision for our country now,” according to a press release.
107 Days is scheduled for publication on Sept. 23 by Simon & Schuster and is available for preorder.
