The Drama Between Kamala Harris & Kimberly Guilfoyle, Explained
As a Donald Trump adviser and campaigner, Kimberly Guilfoyle had obvious incentives for using her home state to attack fellow Californian Kamala Harris. Throughout the 2020 campaign, she blamed all of the state's perceived social issues on its Democratic leadership — which for years included Harris. But Guilfoyle's dislike of the vice president had been decades in the making. And, on many levels, it's personal. Both Harris and Guilfoyle started their careers as prosecutors in the San Francisco Bay Area, where their paths crossed.
They worked together at the San Francisco District Attorney's Office in the 2000s, but their issues started before that — and because of it. Guilfoyle has accused Harris of trying to sabotage her attempt to get her job back. To get the full picture, we need to backtrack a bit. Guilfoyle worked at the D.A.'s office until newly elected D.A. Terence Hallinan fired all 14 prosecutors in 1996. Hallinan then hired Harris in 1998. While Guilfoyle found a job and recognition in Los Angeles, she sought to return to her native San Francisco some years later.
By then, in a world practically inconceivable today, Guilfoyle was in a relationship with now-Governor of California Gavin Newsom. In 2000, Hallinan rehired Guilfoyle, and she and Harris became co-workers — despite the latter's supposed efforts to prevent it. Guilfoyle's claims about Harris go as far back as 2003, showing her resentment is unrelated to her involvement with the far-right.
Kamala Harris denies lying to prevent Kimberly Guilfoyle from getting hired
When Kimberly Guilfoyle decided she wanted to work at the San Francisco District Attorney's Office again, she reached out to Terence Hallinan's chief assistant, Darrell Salomon. Shortly after, Kamala Harris reportedly contacted her in Los Angeles. "She called me and said basically that she was on the hiring committee and in charge of the budget for the D.A.'s office, and that I should have gone through her if I wanted to return to the D.A.'s office," Guilfoyle told SFGate in 2003.
She also contended Harris told her the budget didn't allow for a new hire. Guilfoyle was confused because her conversation with Salomon had ended on a different note. She called the D.A.'s office and was told Harris had no part in these decisions and that there was no such thing as a hiring committee. Harris admitted to calling Guilfoyle but disagreed on what was said. "I never suggested to her there wasn't a job for her in the San Francisco D.A.'s office — of that, I'm very clear," she told SFGate.
On the contrary, she said she offered to help. Harris was confused as to why Guilfoyle made those claims. "We have great rapport and have great respect for each other," Harris said. Gavin Newson has also suggested his ex-wife had a positive relationship with her co-worker. "We were close with Kamala. She knew her well," he said on CNN's "The Axe Files" in 2023, while discussing Guilfoyle's transformation.
Kimberly Guilfoyle used their past connection to attack Kamala Harris
Kimberly Guilfoyle made the best of her connection to Kamala Harris to promote her views on the Joe Biden administration. In 2021, she claimed the president was nothing but a puppet for his VP, something she said she could say firsthand. "Harris is really the de facto commander-in-chief ... She's calling the shots here. I know this. I've known her a long time," She said in a Newsmax interview. She also claimed Harris only wanted to use the vice presidency to gain visibility. "I think she's well in line to run for president next time," Guilfoyle argued.
When she wasn't claiming to have secret intel on the VP, Guilfoyle was warning Americans about Harris and her peers' leadership. "If you want to see the socialist Biden-Harris future for our country, just take a look at California," she said at the National Republican Convention in 2020, citing the state's drug issues and blackouts as proof.
Guilfoyle has also taken public digs at ex-husband Gavin Newsom, including him among the bunch she blames for California's woes. "All that's happened under the one-party Democratic rule in Sacramento and under the reign of Governor Gavin Newsom," she said on "The Kimberly Guilfoyle Show" in 2023 (via The Mercury News). Despite their differences, Guilfoyle, now engaged to Donald Trump Jr., had positive things to say about Harris and Newsom up until the 2020 elections. Now, she's shown her gloves are off.