The Democratic National Committee on Thursday released a long-awaited internal report analyzing what went wrong for Democrats and former Vice President Kamala Harris in their 2024 election defeat to President Donald Trump.
The report, prepared by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, has sparked months of internal debate within the party and was reportedly disputed by some DNC officials.
DNC Chair Ken Martin had previously hesitated to release the document publicly, arguing it could distract from the party’s future strategy.
But mounting frustration from Democratic donors and party insiders over the delay intensified pressure on party leadership. Earlier this month, ABC News reported that several donors had expressed dissatisfaction with Martin’s handling of the issue.
“After last November’s massive Democratic wins, I didn’t want to create a distraction, but by not putting the report out, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction,” Martin said in a statement Thursday. “For that, I sincerely apologize.”
According to the report, the administration of former President Joe Biden failed to adequately position Harris for a successful presidential campaign.
“The White House did not effectively support [Harris] over three and a half years to improve her standing before the candidate switch,” the report stated.
ABC News said it had reached out to Harris’ representatives for comment, while a spokesperson for Biden declined to respond.
The report also argued that Democrats failed to present a compelling enough case against Trump’s return to office, claiming the Harris campaign focused too heavily on portraying Trump as “unacceptable” rather than articulating a stronger positive case for Harris herself.
Additionally, the audit criticized the campaign for insufficient outreach to rural voters and irregular voters, suggesting those groups were effectively taken for granted.
The report further stated that Harris underperformed compared with Biden among young Latino and Black male voters, alleging the campaign focused more heavily on women voters while failing to sufficiently engage those demographics.
