Harris Gets Crickets in Mississippi After Mangled Motivational Quote: "Let Me Repeat That"

Harris Gets Crickets in Mississippi After Mangled Motivational Quote: "Let Me Repeat That"

A Motivational Quote That Fell Flat

Former Vice President Kamala Harris's attempt to inspire voters at a Democratic rally in Mississippi fell flat Thursday after she was forced to repeat a confusing quote in a far-from-full high school gym. "You know, I mentor a lot of young people, and I talk to them sometimes and part of the advice I give them is, you know, never let someone else with limited ability to see your capacity be a limitation on your ambition," Harris said at the Columbus, Miss., rally for Democratic Senate hopeful Scott Colom. The applause line received barely any reaction from the crowd, prompting the stunned former vice president to painfully deliver it again. "Let me repeat that: Never let anybody else's, somebody else's limited ability to see your capacity to be a limitation on your ambition," she said, eliciting more of a reaction from rally-goers. "That's their limitation. That's not our limitation. That's their limitation," Harris continued, before delivering more of her trademark "word salad." "We are not limited in our ambition and desire and ability to see what is possible and what can be," she told the crowd.

Venue Switched at Last Minute

The rally was originally set for Mississippi University for Women's Pohl Gymnasium, but MUW leadership backed out Tuesday without giving a reason, offering only an apology. The Colom campaign moved the event to the Columbus High School gymnasium. Campaign manager Gerard Henderson said there was "clearly an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm for Scott and Vice President Harris." More than 1,000 people RSVPed tickets for the event, according to the campaign. Doors opened at 4 p.m. for the 6 p.m. rally.

Clarksdale Healthcare Roundtable

Before the rally, Harris and Colom held a rural healthcare roundtable at the Aurelia Jones Taylor Administrative Complex in Clarksdale, joined by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, local doctors, a mother who lost a child due to inadequate healthcare access, and other community leaders. The discussion centered on how limited access to medical services and further reductions in Medicaid funding could continue straining Mississippi's rural healthcare system. Colom told the crowd at the rally that incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith "is going to do nothing to fix rural healthcare in Mississippi."

Washington Post: Elevating Profile

The Washington Post described Harris's trip as rallying for a Mississippi Senate candidate "as she elevates profile," noting she played to a packed crowd in a city near the Alabama line in a state that hasn't gone blue for president since Jimmy Carter. The paper framed the visit as one of her first rallies ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run.

Race Dynamics

Hyde-Smith is the incumbent Republican senator; Trump won Mississippi by nearly 23 points in 2024. Colom, the 43-year-old district attorney for several counties in northeast Mississippi, has Democratic donors and officials increasingly hopeful he could pull off an upset in this year's poor political environment for Republicans. Trump is due to travel to Mississippi on Monday to campaign for Hyde-Smith at a rally in Corinth. Harris's Mississippi stop is part of her final fall campaign blitz, with other stops in Nevada, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin. Harris called Colom a "historic candidate" whose victory would send a statement that America has begun to reject Trump and his party.

What's Next

With 12 days until the Nov. 3 election, Harris told the crowd "we've got 12 days to make history." Whether or not Colom prevails, the Mississippi trip marks another stop in Harris's midterm campaign blitz and another move in positioning for a possible 2028 presidential run.