Rachel Maddow has a hilarious excuse for why Kamala Harris comes across as so vapid in public: she's actually sharp and incisive behind closed doors—we just don't get to see it when the cameras are rolling.
Sure, Rachel. Sure.
Maddow, now hosting on MS NOW (the rebranded MSNBC), recently appeared on the At Our Table podcast with former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. At one point during the interview, the conversation turned to Kamala and her nationwide book tour promoting 107 Days. What followed was Maddow's attempt to explain away Kamala’s consistently horrible public appearances by insisting there's a secret, superior version of the former vice president that only a select few get to witness.
Of course, Maddow made it clear that she's only interacted with Kamala Harris "a handful of times" in private settings. "I'm not, like, friends with Vice President Harris," Maddow claimed up front. "I've spoken to her a handful of times in non-public settings, you know, like in preparing for interviews, you know, or at the White House or whatever. But it's not like we have a close personal relationship." Yet somehow, from these limited glimpses, Maddow claims she's discovered the real Kamala, someone who's apparently "sharper and more blunt, and honestly more cutting, and more incisive, than she is when she knows the cameras are rolling."
More of the unfiltered political breakdowns you won’t see on cable news. Rachel Maddow joins @harrisonjaime on the next episode of #AtOurTable. pic.twitter.com/TXiQaT4uww
— At Our Table (@AtOurTableShow) December 8, 2025
Maddow obviously heaped praise on 107 Days, calling it "very well-written.” According to Maddow, Kamala’s natural bluntness and incisiveness come through more clearly on the page than in her carefully managed television appearances. "Whatever you think of the arguments she makes and the scores that she settles in that book, it's a very well-written book," Maddow said. "And some of her innate, natural bluntness and incisiveness come through in that book. But in the interview, with the camera rolling, she's being careful."
So wait a minute: It sure sounds like Maddow believes that Kamala actually wrote the book by herself. It’s been well established at this point that Kamala’s publisher basically had Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks collaborate with her on it, a fact that MS NOW knows.
Maddow now says she regrets letting Kamala skate through their September interview with her overly cautious act. She thinks she should have stopped the performance cold and pushed for the candid version she heard off camera.
She wanted Kamala to ditch the safety net and spill everything “out on the floor,” as if that would have made a difference. This excuse sounds awfully familiar.
Remember when Joe Scarborough went on MSNBC in March 2024 and insisted that Joe Biden was sharper than ever? "Start your tape right now, because I'm about to tell you the truth," he ranted. "And eff you if you can't handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I've known him for years. The Brzezinskis have known him for 50 years. If it weren't the truth, I wouldn't say it." We all saw how that turned out.
Joe Scarborough March: Biden is far beyond cogent. He is better than he has ever been intellectually, analytically. He is the best Biden ever
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 28, 2024
Joe Scarborough Today: If he were CEO and he turned into performance like that, would any Fortune 500 corporation in America keep him on… pic.twitter.com/ojNPBV8ZZV
Once again, the MSNBC/MS NOW crowd wants us to ignore what we see with our own eyes and instead trust their behind-the-scenes assessments. But Kamala has been in the public eye for years with top-tier PR teams managing her image. The problem isn’t that she’s just not good when cameras are rolling; it’s that she’s just not that intelligent.
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