There are all sorts of rumors about what happened on election night 2016 when Hillary Clinton learned she had lost the election to Donald Trump. After months of polls and media reports suggesting she had over a 90% chance of winning, it must have been devastating. Rumors of drunken violence in her hotel room have been floating around for years. I'd love to know the truth.
But how did Kamala Harris react after she found out she was going to lose to Donald Trump? A report from Vanity Fair claims to have the answer.
Here’s how things went down. For starters, the article points out that the campaign was extremely upbeat about its chances.
Though Harris was behind in the battleground states, her spokespeople were oddly upbeat. Appearing on MSNBC back on October 27, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon had declared, “We are very confident we’re going to win this thing.” On Friday, November 1, senior adviser David Plouffe posted on X that late-breaking undecided voters were going for Harris by more than 10 points.
From Kamala’s perspective, she similarly must have been under the impression she would inevitably win. After all, polls showed her ahead, Jan.6!!, she had access to the cream of the crop from Obama's political machine, democracy was at stake, Jan. 6!!, and, they spent $1.5 billion.
Oh, and Jan. 6.
Anyone paying close attention to the election saw the disconnect between the rosy topline numbers pollsters were pushing and the real story hidden in the crosstabs. Those polls showing Kamala ahead in the swing states never added up—but her campaign only saw what they wanted to see.
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Then reality hit. She lost every single swing state.
The vice president was hunkered down with her family. “We saw her maybe one time that whole night,” said one of her close insiders, when the VP “came back” to their section of the house. As the evening wore on, “it was just like, ‘What’s going on?’ The SG [second gentleman] would come in. Doug would say, ‘What’s happening?’ ” The realization grew that it was going to be a difficult night. One key indicator: Voles had summoned a photographer and a videographer. They were supposed to head to the Howard University campus with Harris for her victory speech. Instead, they cooled their heels.
The moment of truth came just after midnight. O’Malley Dillon huddled with her two best analytics experts. They were her barometer, her North Star, and when they told her they did not see a path, O’Malley Dillon knew there wasn’t one. She called the vice president. “We’re down in the blue wall states, and we’re not going to be able to make it up,” she said. “Oh, my God,” said Harris. “What is going to happen to this country?”
Is this really how it went down? I’m not convinced. If you really think Kamala’s first response to finding out she was going to lose was some selfless concern for the future of the country, I’d like to play high-stakes poker with you.
Team Kamala was trapped in a bubble of pure delusion. Pollsters insisted that she was leading, the media kept hyping a Kamala landslide, and famed Democratic strategist James Carville practically guaranteed her victory. Inside the Kamala campaign, team members exuded the same smug certainty of success that Hillary did in 2016 — right up until reality smacked them in the face.
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