Kamala Harris’s romantic past has always found a way to plague her political career. The former Vice President’s relationship with Willie Brown has been put in the spotlight several times, even decades after it ended. The two were even accused of having an affair while Brown was allegedly married. Here’s what the exes have said about the speculation.
Kamala’s relationship with the former San Francisco Mayor has been brought up several times, mainly during important moments in her career. It was first speculated upon during her 2002 race for district attorney.
The discussion picked up again when she stood for the 2020 campaign for VP. The relationship was put in the spotlight again during her 2024 campaign for president.
Megyn Kelly was one of the prominent Trump supporters who accused Harris of using Brown to get ahead in her career. Kelly claimed that the former Vice President attempted to “sleep her way into politics and power.” She alleged that the former San Francisco Mayor played a major role in Harris’s early career.
When the exes started dating in 1994, Kamala was 29 years old while Brown was 60. Their several decades-long gap is because controversial topic for critics watching every move that a young Kamla Harris was making. Furthermore, rumors also claimed that the pair was having an affair when Brown was married to Blanche Vitero.
🔥🚨BREAKING: New ABC footage of San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown being asked if Kamala Harris was his Daughter from 1995 has surfaced. pic.twitter.com/LEwo6pwzub
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) September 10, 2024
The speculation held no merit, considering that Brown had divorced his former wife a decade before he started dating Harris. He was the speaker of the California Assembly at the time and appointed Kamala to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission.
Brown addressed the relationship and the controversy surrounding it in a 2019 interview. “Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago. Yes, I may have influenced her career by appointing her to two state commissions when I was Assembly speaker,” he said in a San Francisco Chronicle interview.
Willie Brown, Kamala Harris’ former boyfriend and political mentor, claims to have a photo of her on Donald Trump’s airplane. According to Politico, Brown introduced Harris to Trump in the 1990s and has a picture of them together on Trump’s jet. The photo was taken when Brown was… pic.twitter.com/crJAp1nVMv
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) August 4, 2024
He also added how he had done the same for Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and former Senator Dianne Feinstein by supporting them in their early careers. In a 2003 interview with SF Weekly, Harris referred to the rumors about her relationship with Brown to be an “albatross hanging around my neck.”
She pointed out how she “did not owe” her ex a thing in the same interview. Brown once again supported Kamala by praising her for her talent. “I think talent is what got her where she is,” he said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
