Democratic Party's autopsy report of 2024 election will avoid asking if Harris should have run
New York Times journalists Reid J. Epstein and Shane Goldmacher reported what is being described by party officials as an "after-action review" of what went wrong in the election. However, the review is expected to focus more on outside groups and super PACs and how they spent money on advertising and other voter turnout efforts.
Top Democrats informed Epstein and Goldmacher that the report was not expected to look at any strategic decisions made by the campaign, such as whether then-President Joe Biden should have stayed in the race or dropped out sooner, and if then-Vice President Kamala Harris was the best person to run in his place.
The "autopsy" is also expected to avoid any campaign decisions by the Harris team, such as repeatedly referring to her opponent, President Donald Trump, as a fascist.
"Party officials described the draft document as focusing on the 2024 election as a whole, but not on the presidential campaign — which is something like eating at a steakhouse and then reviewing the salad," they wrote.
The report, which was first launched in March, is still under review by Democratic operative Paul Rivera. Rivera has so far conducted more than 200 interviews with officials from all 50 states.
Despite avoiding key questions about the campaign, DNC officials were optimistic about the report's upcoming results.
"The D.N.C.'s post-election review is not a finger-pointing exercise; it's about bringing together Democrats across the ecosystem to adopt an actionable playbook to win, not just for 2026 and 2028, but to dominate for cycles to come," DNC spokesperson Rosemary Boeglin told the New York Times. "Democrats are cleareyed about the challenges facing the party — many of which are rooted well before the 2024 cycle — and it requires all of us to make structural changes in how we run campaigns."
Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC for comment.
The Democratic National Committee has been under controversy recently with multiple resignations and party infighting. Last month, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) chief Randi Weingarten and Lee Saunders, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, resigned from their positions, citing a problem with party leadership.
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