Axelrod: Racism, sexism partly to blame for Harris defeat

Democratic strategist David Axelrod called out "racial bias" and "sexism" for what he labeled as their "impact" on the outcome of the presidential election.

"Let's be honest about this. Let's be absolutely blunt about it: There were appeals to racism in this campaign, and there is racial bias in this country, and there is sexism in this country," Axelrod said on CNN early Wednesday morning, after former President Trump was projected as the winner over Vice President Harris.

"And anybody who thinks that that did not in any way impact on the outcome of this race is wrong," he added in the interview, highlighted by Mediaite.

The strategist noted, however, that he doesn't think these are the main reasons why Harris lost and Trump secured a second term. He also commended the former president's team for running a "very smart" campaign.

“I think they ran, honestly, strategically, his campaign — and I’ve said it many times — they ran a very smart campaign,” he said. “It was an ultimately rational, well-conceived and well-executed campaign for an irrational, often irrational candidate.”

Harris addressed sexism, along with several other topics top of mind for voters, in an interview with NBC News last month, dismissing concerns that sexism is at play in the race.

“Well, I’m clearly a woman; I don’t need to point that out to anyone,” Harris said at the time. “The point that most people really care about is: Can you do the job, and do you have a plan to actually focus on them?”

When asked if the country is ready for a woman and a woman of color to be president, the vice president replied, “Absolutely. And I am seeing that in terms of every walk of life of our country.”

A September survey from The Associated Press/NORC Research Center showed 38 percent of voters think being a woman hurt Harris’s chances of winning, and only 13 percent of voters said the same about the GOP nominee.

The claim that sexism and racism are present in the race was amplified last month as Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said he thinks they "still exist" in U.S. politics, citing the presidential race as an example.

“I think it is an issue with a lot of different voters across this country, and it’s something that our country — you know, we’ve come a long way as in terms of women’s suffrage," The Florida Democrat said in an interview. "We’ve come a long way in terms of making sure of equity in this country, but there’s still a lot of this bigotry in this country in terms of sexism, in terms of racism. And we still have to work at getting over that."

“Those things are still here," he continued. "They still exist in a lot of communities, and we still have a lot of work to do here."

The Hill has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.