Former Vice President Kamala Harris opens her forthcoming memoir, 107 days, with a lyric from Kendrick Lamar, prompting a wave of online mockery from conservatives who say the quote signals a disconnect from everyday voters.
In the excerpt, Harris includes the line, allegedly from Lamar’s 2017 song DNA: “I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA…I was born like this.” The memoir offers Harris’s perspective on the period surrounding her devastating defeat to Donald Trump and provides a look at the lead-up to pivotal moments in the 2024 campaign, including the September debate and interactions with President Joe Biden.
Conservatives on social media slammed the decision to begin with the lyric. One post from a popular fan account associated with The Lord of the Rings, The Middle-earth Mixer, wrote, “Wow this incredibly reddit,” arguing the quote shows Harris is out of touch with average voters. Another X user quipped, “Isolated Lib elites have no ability to relate to people.”
Other critics weighed in with lighter barbs. Political consultant Ryan Girdusky asked, “I mean... was she unable to find a Dr. Seuss quote?” and another commenter suggested a different memoir title, joking, “Recommend title: ‘How I spent billions in 107 days, paid celebrities to endorse me, paid podcasts to endorse me, paid media figures to endorse me, asked media to edit my answers if they sound bad, or even requested entire interviews to be scrapped - but still got my ass kicked.’”
Several comments accused Harris of relying on a ghostwriter, with one user saying, “This is indistinguishable from parody. She needs a new ghost writer.” Another post described the excerpt as “almost parodic.” A commentator named Phil added, “It’s like the quotes you’d see from a less than impressive male high school senior in their year book.”
The memoir’s narrative, according to readers and outlets summarizing the book, uses the opening lyric to frame a broader claim about identity and perseverance. Harris writes that her warmth and loyalty toward Biden were tested as election day approached, including an incident in which Biden reportedly called her minutes before the September debate to question whether she had spoken ill of him to powerbrokers in Philadelphia. Harris questions the call in the memoir, asking, “Why’s he asking that?”
Beyond these personal moments, the book seeks to pull back the curtain on the 2024 national campaign effort to salvage Democratic hopes of retaining the White House, along with broader reflections on Biden’s White House staff and decision-making. The volume positions Harris not only as a participant in history but as a critical observer of the campaign machinery surrounding a tumultuous political year.
The reaction to the opening has fed into a broader cultural conversation about how public figures narrate their political journeys in entertainment formats. While some readers may view the opening as a candid stylistic choice that signals a contemporary, media-savvy approach to memoir-writing, others on the right have framed it as proof of a distance from ordinary voters. The discussion underscores how culture and politics increasingly intersect in the reception of high-profile political memoirs, especially when the author leverages popular music and celebrities to shape a narrative of resilience and loyalty.
As Harris’s memoir continues to surface in media coverage, readers will be watching how the rest of the memoir unfolds—whether it broadens the portrait of her path to the presidency, reveals additional internal critiques of the Biden administration, or offers further context on the dynamic between Harris and party leadership during a pivotal election cycle.