Kamala Harris Explains Why She’s Not Running for Election on Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’: ‘I Don’t Want to Go Back in the System. I Think It’s Broken’

Kamala Harris appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Thursday night just hours after it was announced she is going to release “107 Days,” a memoir about the 2024 presidential election.

In a preview clip from the show, Colbert asked her if the reason she said she wouldn’t run for governor of California is because she is going to run for a different office, and Harris responded, “No. I don’t want to go back in the system. I think it’s broken.”

“I always believed that as fragile as our democracy is our systems would be strong enough to defend our most fundamental principles, and I think right now that they’re not as strong as they need to be,” she said. “I want to travel the country, I want to listen to people, I want to talk with people and I don’t want it to be transactional where I’m asking for their vote.”

“But it doesn’t mean we give up, that’s not my point,” Harris clarified.

“OK, because that’s what I’m hearing — like you don’t wanna be part of the fight anymore,” Colbert replied.

“Absolutely not,” Harris responded. “I’m always gonna be part of the fight.”

Harris’ appearance comes on the heels of CBS’s controversial decision to cancel “The Late Show.”

CBS has insisted the decision to end “The Late Show,” which will end its 11-season run in May 2026, was a “purely” financial one. Critics have opined that it was a politically motivated move to appease Donald Trump and help get FCC approval for Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media.

Two weeks before the cancellation, Paramount Global disclosed a $16 million payment to Trump to settle his lawsuit alleging “60 Minutes” had deceptively edited an interview with Harris.

Many of Cobert’s late-night rivals and other celebs joined him on the show for a send-up of the viral Coldplay kiss-cam video following CBS axing “The Late Show.”

“Some people see this show going away as a sign of something truly dire,” Colbert said, adding, “We here at ‘The Late Show’ never saw our job as changing anything other than how you felt at the end of the day… Or rather, changing how you felt the next morning, when you watched on your phone, which is why broadcast TV is dying — you’re part of the problem, look in the mirror.”

“Point is, I don’t want this show to be associated with making you sad or anxious,” Colbert continued. “So I thought: music, OK? That makes people happy, right? So instead of me talking, here with a song to cheer you up are two musical greats” — whereupon he introduced “Weird Al” Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The “couples” spotted by the “Late Show” audience cam on July 21 were: Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers of NBC; CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Bravo’s Andy Cohen (who have hosted a New Year’s Eve countdown show on CNN the past few years); Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald (“Happy Gilmore,” “Hacks”); and John Oliver of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” and Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

ABC’s late night host Jimmy Kimmel, based in Los Angeles, wrote, “Love you Stephen” and “Fuck you and all your Sheldons CBS,” in an Instagram post last week.

Stewart took aim at CBS and parent company Paramount. In one segment, he was joined by a gospel choir as he sang, “If you’re afraid and you protect your bottom line, I got but one thing to say! Go fuck yourself!”