HARRIS ADMINISTRATION BOOK CLUB MEETING 02/23/25 OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

PAGE 4:

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: What is this? It’s really good.

CHIEF OF STAFF HILLARY CLINTON: I believe it’s the Sutter Home Chardonnay.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: It’s oaky and delicious. Some people don’t like those California Chardonnays when they’re too oaky and rich, but I love them! So good! So, so, so good!

CHIEF OF STAFF HILLARY CLINTON: Yes. Well. If we could get back to the morning NatSec briefing.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Hills, try this. I’m serious.

CHIEF OF STAFF HILLARY CLINTON: No, thank you. And I know you were hoping to have a book-club meeting, but I truly think we should focus our time trying to develop a strategic reset for the war in Ukraine. Also, it’s eleven in the morning.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: I know, I know. And I was thinking about that reset idea. And I love that word, “reset.” Because it truly means to set, again. To set once more. To set anew and afresh that which once was set before us, and that which needs to be set again. Speaking of which . . . POTUS needs a little reset herself.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION PETE BUTTIGIEG: I got you.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Just a splash more, I’m serious. Because I really do want to dive into this week’s book, A Summer Affair, by Elin Hilderbrand. Pete, what did you think of it?

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, Madam President, I was intrigued by the Nantucket setting — that’s a place that Chasten and I visited often before we had kids — and of course you know I love a good murder mystery.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Me too! Okay, I have some notes here for good book-club discussion questions. Okay, here’s one. What was your take on Claire’s affair with Lock Dixon? I myself thought it was believable and added an interesting dimension to the character. Samantha, did you want to add something?

SECRETARY OF STATE SAMANTHA POWER: Well, I was going to agree with Hillary for a moment, but I gotta say this is really great chardonnay. And also, I was going to add that I personally felt a lot of empathy for Claire in that whole affair-with-Lock thing. In the first place, it felt like a very pro-woman-empowering-type deal but also, I mean, hell, Lock is sexy!

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: So true!

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: I love book club! Pete, could you pass the bottle this way?

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION PETE BUTTIGIEG: I got you.

CHIEF OF STAFF HILLARY CLINTON: I’m not trying to be a party pooper, I’m really not. It’s just that there are a lot of issues on the horizon and I really don’t think we have time to talk about a beach read.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Okay, now you’re just being condescending. And A Summer Affair is more than just a beach read. It’s a fully formed romantic drama with a touch of sleuthing.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION PETE BUTTIGIEG: Couldn’t have said it better!

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY ELIZABETH WARREN: You know what I really loved? The way the secondary characters, like Siobhan, Jason, and Isabelle, influenced Claire’s journey. I mean, they each had a very unique perspective that I found riveting.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: And you know what else I found riveting?

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: This Sutter Home Chardonnay?

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: You know it, girl!

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Just a splash more, I’m serous.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION PETE BUTTIGIEG: I got you.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Not too much. Not too much. Okay, well that’s not enough to even taste. C’mon now and give me a splash and then let’s talk about how Claire’s internal conflicts between her roles as a mother, wife, and artist impact her decisions.

CHIEF OF STAFF HILLARY CLINTON: Or, you know, we could just focus on the three big crises of the week and make some progress towards finding solutions.

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Hills, when I was campaigning I made a promise to the American people that I’d be a big proponent of a healthy work–life balance. Now, I’m gonna say it again: We will get to all of those issues. But right now it’s book-club time and we’re getting into the many layers of Elin Hilderbrand’s masterpiece A Summer Affair. So you can either have a glass of wine with the rest of the girlies —

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION PETE BUTTIGIEG: And me, LOL!

PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Right. Anyone else need a top-off? And do we need to open another one?

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5