Kamala Harris is quietly working to rebuild her standing on the left by courting some of the Democratic Partys most hardline progressive figures as speculation mounts over a potential 2028 presidential run.
According to Fox News, the former vice president has been reaching out to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other progressive power brokers who either opposed her or remained lukewarm during her failed 2024 campaign. The outreach includes a phone call with Mamdani last week, first reported by Axios and confirmed by Fox News Digital, as well as a series of closed-door meetings with progressive organizations that have long pushed the Democratic Party further toward socialism and identity politics.
Harris has also been working to mend fences with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., meeting her privately at a Black womens empowerment summit in Chicago, Axios reported and Fox News Digital confirmed. That quiet huddle with one of the Houses most prominent democratic socialists underscores Harris apparent calculation that any future national bid will require the blessing of the partys activist left, even if that alienates moderates and independents who helped elect President Donald Trump in 2024.
In another sign of where she is looking for support, Harris has reportedly been reaching out to pro-Palestinian groups that sharply criticized her during the last presidential cycle. Harris contacted at least one organization involved in the "Uncommitted Movement," which emerged in protest of President Joe Bidens handling of the IsraelGaza conflict and helped expose the widening rift between traditional Democrats and the partys anti-Israel flank.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani and Harris office for comment, but neither camp has publicly detailed the substance of their conversations. News of the HarrisMamdani call, however, quickly ignited backlash from conservatives online who see the outreach as further proof that Democratic leaders are tethered to the far left.
"Kamala Harris 2020 was desperate, Kamala Harris 2024 was pathetic, Kamala Harris 2028 will be unhinged," GOP political strategist Nathan Brand posted on X, capturing the skepticism many on the right feel toward another Harris bid. Mamdanis clout inside the party has only expanded since he took office in January, bolstered by a clean sweep of socialist-aligned candidates he endorsed in last months New York Democratic primary.
"The fact that she's courting people like Mamdani, these socialists and communists, it goes back to the radical leftists, because the Democrats are in big trouble as a party," RNC chair Joe Gruters exclusively told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. "They're in the death spiral, because now they have these people inside their tent," he continued.
"This is who the Democratic Party is today: these radical leftists that want to fundamentally transform our country. And that's why we have to fight. That's why we have to come together, unite, and we have to win. We have to win to save the country. We have to win to move our policies forward. There's a lot at stake. Certainly, Kamala Harris, the meeting with Mamdani and these radicals shows you where the left continues to go where they want to go, but listen, she has to kowtow to these radicals to try to win."
Harris has done little to tamp down 2028 chatter, making high-profile stops in the early primary state of South Carolina earlier this year.
Her travel came less than a week after she dangled the prospect of another presidential run at the National Action Networks 35th Anniversary Convention, where she was asked by the Rev. Al Sharpton if she would seek the White House again and replied, "I might. I might. Im thinking about it Ill keep you posted."
Harris, who replaced President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic nominee but ultimately lost to President Donald Trump, was met at that event with chants of "run again." Whether her new alliance with figures like Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez broadens her appeal or further cements the Democratic Partys march toward the radical left will shape not only her own political future, but the stakes for conservatives determined to stop her from reshaping the country a second time.
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