'Ill-suited': Columnist warns Kamala Harris against making 'mistake' in 2026

An MSNBC columnist poured cold water Monday on any notions that Vice President Kamala Harris run again for president.

CNN and The Washington Post reported Harris hasn't ruled out another bid for the Oval Office despite a resounding defeat to President-elect Donald Trump that gave the GOP a coveted trifecta.

Harris is also reportedly mulling over a run for California governor in four years.

"She remains undecided herself, unsure how to channel feelings she has, for now, worked into stock lines like 'you haven’t seen the last of me,' and "I’m not going quietly into the night' repeated to supporters who ask her what’s next," CNN reported, citing several people who spoke to Harris.

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But Zeeshan Aleem said Harris is "particularly ill-suited" for a run in 2026, which he called a populist era, and said the party would be making a "mistake."

"Harris isn’t the only Democratic nominee to fall back on a combination of vibes and technocracy, but the combination is particularly ill-suited to this populist era, and it makes her exactly the wrong kind of person to resurface as the Democratic Party faces an identity crisis," wrote Aleem.

If Democrats want to win again, Aleem urged the party to nominate someone who can "authentically brandish economic populism and win back working-class voters drifting from the party."

Harris, he said, is "sharp and telegenic" — but often failed to clearly articulate her vision, evidenced by the fact her policy page wasn't created until a few days before her debate. To boot, she's plagued with a "toxic association with post-pandemic inflation," as well as a rise in illegal immigration. The latter of which is "a pretty serious mark against her, given the sustained salience of immigration in political debate," said Aleem.