Kamala Harris suffered a massive election loss on Tuesday night, but the warning signs that her campaign was in trouble were evident in the days and weeks before.
In the wake of the vice-president’s crushing defeat, many pointed to an ominous rally she held the day before election day where she spoke on the famed ‘Rocky steps’ in Philadelphia.
While Harris may have been hoping to embody a fighting spirit for her supporters, some noted that Rocky loses his fight to Apollo Creed in the 1976 film, foreshadowing Harris’ loss to Donald Trump.
Other fateful signs that the election would not swing her way included losing the small New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch, the first in the nation results that went for Joe Biden in 2020, and liberal pundits admitting their doubts in days before.
Kamala Harris suffered a massive election loss on Tuesday night, but the warning signs that her campaign was in trouble were evident in the days and weeks before
The day before the election, Harris held an ominous rally on the famed ‘Rocky steps’ in Philadelphia – with observers noting that Rocky loses his fight in the 1976 film
Supporters of Kamala Harris were downcast as results came in showing the vice president was on course for a crushing defeat
At her Philadelphia rally, Harris drew a huge crowd of tens of thousands of supporters, and appeared alongside Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga.
Although she admitted in her speech that she saw herself as the ‘underdog’, forecasters had consistently given her a slight edge in what was intended to be razor-thin election.
But the cracks began to show before election day had begun, with CNN contributor Van Jones- a steadfast Democrat supporter who worked for President Obama – saying the ‘Rocky Steps’ rally was a mistake as he cast doubt over Harris’ chances
Jones told CNN on Monday that the final days of the 2024 election have looked eerily similar to Hillary Clinton’s devastating loss in 2016.
Namely, he questioned holding rallies with A-listers like Oprah and Lady Gaga in crucial states, just as Clinton had done in the election she lost to Trump eight years ago.
In another warning sign to Harris’ candidacy, reliably liberal CNN contributor Van Jones drew parallels between her election odds and Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 race
Jones slammed Harris’ decision to appear at her rallies with A-listers including Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga (both pictured at her ‘Rocky steps’ rally)
‘The other thing that makes me nervous, in 2016, we had a big star-studded event right on the edge of the election, and we lost,’ Jones said.
‘I don’t think people understand, working people sometimes have to choose. Am I going to go to the big, cool concert and pay for babysitting for that or am I going to figure out a way to get to the polls? I don’t like these big star-studded events.’
Jones’ fears over a Harris underperformance came true in the very first results from the 2024 election, in the small New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch.
The town has just six residents, and has a tradition dating back to 1988 of voting at the stroke of midnight on an election year to become the first county to produce results.
In 2020, it was a clean sweep for Biden.
This year, however, the vote was split – three for Trump, and three for Harris.
The small town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, where six registered voters cast their ballots first in the nation in a tradition dating back to 1988, voted 50/50 for Harris and Trump despite giving Biden a clean sweep in 2020
Although Dixville Notch’s tiny electorate was hardly enough to swing the election, it ended up serving as an omen for the rest of Harris’ night.
The vice-president was relying on college educated voters in the suburbs to bolster her support in liberal cities.
But in results across the East Coast, she failed to bring in enough voters, and it appeared early on that proclamations of the election taking up to a week to be decided were short-sighted.
By 10:30pm, Fox News’ Bret Baier was already talking of a Trump victory, saying his campaign was ‘probably the biggest political phoenix from the ashes that we have ever seen in the history of politics.’
After Trump’s victory sent shockwaves across the world, Van Jones led the liberal media meltdown on election night as he joined a throng of pundits taking Trump’s victory badly.
Donald Trump completed a historic political comeback as he cruised past Kamala Harris
The 56-year-old has been overcome with emotion live on air on several occasions, and viewers had joked on social media in advance of election night that he was likely to burst into tears regardless of the result.
Jones was clearly fighting against choking up as he condemned the vote and painted a dystopian picture of America under Trump.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid also unleased into a furious rant as Trump stormed to victory as she branded him an ‘extremist, right-wing fascist.’
‘Think about the last two weeks and the things that Donald Trump has said into the TV that people could hear him say and do,’ she said, becoming increasingly more irate.
‘The vulgarity in front of families with young children and the threats to do mass deportation and a violent start to his dictatorship on day one, you name it.’
Reid unleased into a furious rant about Donald Trump as he took the lead on Tuesday night
After Florida was called for Trump early in the evening, Reid said: ‘It’s a pure Project 2025 in miniature in Florida.
‘That extremist sort of right-wing, fascist type government in Florida, does that make it more of an attractive place?’
When Texas was called for the former president, Reid described black voters in Houston as ‘deeply suppressed’ and went on to blame ‘white women’ voters after North Carolina became the first swing state to plump for Trump.
