Harris memoir alleges Newsom did not return urgent call after Biden exit

Former Vice President Kamala Harris writes in her forthcoming memoir that California Governor Gavin Newsom did not return her urgent call after President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 race, a moment she says underscores the behind-the-scenes calculus that shaped the Democratic nominating period. The advance copy of 107 Days recounts the frantic window between Biden’s exit and Harris’s eventual nomination and the rapid push by Democratic operatives to secure endorsements that would define the contest in the media narrative and in party strategy. Harris portrays a sprint to assemble a coalition of high-profile backers, highlighting how personal relationships and political calculations can shape the trajectory of a campaign even before formal ballots are cast. The narrative adds another layer to the public tensions within a party that had to reconcile fresh leadership ambitions with the realities of a suddenly unsettled field. It is a reminder of how quickly alliances can be tested when a campaign loses its incumbent cornerstone.

Harris says she reached out to dozens of prominent Democrats seeking immediate endorsements, cognizant that time was of the essence and that the narrative around the race was forming in real time. She details the attention given to Newsom, a longtime ally who, she says, did not respond directly. Instead, she recalls receiving only a brief text from Newsom: “Hiking. Will call back.” She contends that he never followed up with a promised phone call, a detail she uses to illustrate what she describes as selective loyalty within the party and the kind of frictions that can simmer beneath public support. The anecdote, she writes, helped illuminate the broader pattern she faced: rivals who hesitated or withheld their endorsements even as the clock ran down and her own messaging had to land with voters and donors in a compressed time frame. The passage also underscores the emotional and strategic strain of navigating a dramatic leadership transition in real time, with Harris trying to translate fleeting moments of opportunity into lasting political traction.

Caught off guard by the revelation, Newsom downplayed the drama on a Friday news conference in San Francisco. He told reporters that there was “an unknown number” involved and that he had been hiking when Harris’s outreach occurred. He said he was trying to reach the Biden administration to understand the implications of the president’s decision and to coordinate a response across the party. Newsom asserted that he did indeed respond, albeit after the fact, and insisted that the timing and mechanics of his outreach were somewhat muddled by the circumstances surrounding Biden’s exit. He also argued that he did not intentionally dodge Harris, framing the episode as a moment of miscommunication rather than deliberate exclusion. Harris’s account, according to the book, portrays Newsom as a reluctant ally whose public endorsement came only after she had already secured the nomination, a sequence that the memoir uses to question the depth and durability of internal party loyalties during a high-stakes crisis.

Biden’s sudden departure set off a rapid cascade of endorsements and maneuvering as Harris sought to define her candidacy while simultaneously fending off questions about whether she could unify the party and present a credible alternative to Trump. The book notes that while some governors—such as Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois—initially hesitated, they ultimately endorsed Harris in the wake of Biden’s exit. Harris’s portrayal of Pritzker’s reticence—“As governor of Illinois, I’m the convention host. I can’t commit.”—frames endorsements as a calculus in which loyalty can be as much a strategic decision as a reaction to a candidate’s viability. The memoir uses these anecdotes to illustrate the complex and sometimes contradictory dynamics at play when party elites are pressed to coalesce around a nominee under intense scrutiny from the media, donors, and voters.

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Newsom publicly weighed in with a not-so-subtle dig about the process. He appeared on Pod Save America and offered a comment that some interpreted as signaling a dissatisfaction with how quickly the race had been settled: “We went through a very open process, a very inclusive process. It was bottom-up.” The remark, delivered with a smile, was widely interpreted as a jab suggesting that the nomination had been prematurely consolidated. Harris’s memoir does not dwell on the convention moment in detail, but the absence of Newsom’s endorsement in her narrative and the emphasis on other endorsements reinforce a portrait of loyalty and calculation that extends beyond public appearances. The book’s framing underscores a larger question about how the party balances loyalty, ambition, and the perception of how democratic the selection process actually was.

As Harris looks ahead, she does not close the door on future presidential bids. The book’s release comes as Newsom, who is term-limited in 2026, continues to deny explicit presidential ambitions while maintaining a high national profile as a leading Democratic governor. The two California Democrats—the state’s top two political figures—are widely viewed as powerful but potentially conflicting forces within the party as it contends with lingering questions about leadership, succession, and strategy in a post-Biden era. The memoir’s disclosures add a new layer to the ongoing national conversation about loyalty, timing, and the backstage calculations that shape American politics, even as Harris positions herself for potential future campaigns and Newsom navigates the next steps of his political career.