Kamala Harris Warns US Democracy is ‘Fragile’ in Candid Colbert Interview

Former Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris delivered a blunt assessment of America’s political system during a wide-ranging conversation on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on July 30.

Appearing on the CBS late-night show, Harris said the nation’s democracy is “fragile” and argued that the current system is failing to protect Americans from what she described as the “tyranny” of former President Donald Trump’s leadership.

Harris placed much of the blame on Congress, particularly Republicans who, she said, are more interested in aligning with Trump than upholding their constitutional duties.

“Congress is sitting on their hands and refusing to stand in the way of some of Trump’s more disastrous agenda items,” Harris said, warning that the checks and balances that are supposed to safeguard democracy are “cracking under the weight of Trumpian autocracy, which they were never designed to support.”

Reflecting on her time in office, Harris admitted: “I always believed that as fragile as our democracy is, our systems would be strong enough to defend our most fundamental principles, and I think right now that they’re not as strong as they need to be.”

She pointed to the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution and called out the current Congress for not fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, especially as Trump pursues policies such as eliminating the Department of Education. “Congress has the role and responsibility to stand in the way of that, and they’re just sitting on their hands, and then they go to recess,” Harris said.

Harris also previewed her forthcoming memoir, “107 Days,” set for release in September, which chronicles her short-lived 2024 presidential campaign. While she declined to discuss the specifics of how she tried to distance herself from President Joe Biden during the campaign, she expressed hope that the book would inspire readers to become more engaged in the political process.

“I hope, by writing this book, one of the things that I do is help people see from the inside what it is in a way that they can see something about themselves that tells them, ‘Hey, I could do that,’” Harris told Colbert.

Looking ahead, Harris said the future of the Democratic Party rests not on any single leader but on collective action. “I think it is a mistake for us who want to figure out how to get out and through this to put it on the shoulders on any one person: It’s really on all of our shoulders,” she concluded.