Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, where he offered a surprisingly upbeat endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential 2028 presidential contender, even though she lost decisively to Donald Trump in 2024.
Kelly was asked directly by host Kristen Welker whether Harris would be “a strong candidate in 2028.”
“Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, she was, she was the nominee last time. I think you would encourage her to run. I think she would be incredibly strong. I think you’re going to have, you know, a dozen, if not more, folks running, probably on either side,” Kelly said.
Kelly’s confidence stands in sharp contrast to Harris’s actual record. She became the Democratic nominee only after President Biden dropped out, long after every state had already voted in the primaries. Despite a campaign war chest exceeding $1 billion, she failed to win a single swing state against Trump in 2024.
When pressed about whether his own name might be among those running in 2028, Kelly quickly pivoted to foreign policy and government priorities:
“We’re focused on trying to get the government open right now, trying to get our troops paid. I mean, there is a still war going on in Ukraine… We’ve got, you know, challenges in the Western Pacific and Indo-PACOM with the Chinese. I’m concerned that this administration is going to change our national defense strategy to focus just on the western hemisphere, where our pacing threat is clearly China,” he said.
Those comments suggest that while Kelly may be downplaying his own ambitions, he’s positioning himself as a measured national voice, just as Harris works to rebuild her political image. Her ongoing national book tour for 107 Days has drawn attention not for its sales pitch, but for her sharp words toward fellow Democrats, including Kelly.
During the Meet the Press interview, Welker noted that Harris wrote she had considered Kelly as a potential running mate before deciding he was “untested” for the national stage. Asked for his reaction, Kelly responded with characteristic restraint:
“Well, I’m pretty good at handling garbage. That’s never been a problem. It was an honor to be considered. And you know, we right now, we’re trying to address all kinds of problems right now, and I’m not so much focused on a book, but I do wish her success, and I hope she sells a lot of books. As somebody who’s written some books, it’s hard to sell books,” Kelly said.
It’s a gracious answer, but one that can’t mask the political reality. Harris’s 2024 defeat was one of the most lopsided modern losses for Democrats, and her polling numbers among independents and moderates remain deeply underwater.
Even if Kelly insists she’d be “incredibly strong,” voters may remember that the last time Kamala Harris faced Donald Trump, she couldn’t carry a single battleground state.
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