In Macon, Kamala Harris talks food, FBI election raid, what’s next
Former Vice President Kamala Harris bonded over food and Georgia politics with a Savannah Michelin star chef in front of hundreds of supporters Wednesday night in downtown Macon.
Harris sat down for a raw, unrehearsed interview with Mashama Bailey, owner of The Grey in Savannah and L’Arrêt by The Grey in Paris, France, on her book tour stop at Macon City Auditorium.
In chapters written as Harris’ journal entries, “107 Days” explores the long days of the shortest presidential campaign in modern history, including the aftermath of former President Joe Biden abruptly dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
Wednesday night’s conversation only briefly mentioned details from the book, and instead focused on more local issues.
Harris was sure to mention that she dined at The Rookery, Cherry Street’s popular Southern-American restaurant, and met with Travis Patterson, an employee there, earlier that day.
“I was hanging out with Travis…” Harris told Bailey, and pointed to Patterson in the crowd. “And we were talking also about something I know you do so beautifully with your restaurant, it’s about supporting local farmers.”
Bailey said costs have recently risen while working in the restaurant industry, which Harris agreed and said makes it difficult to meet demands in food production.
“I mean especially in a state like Georgia… we’ve got to support our farmers, especially with all this ridiculous stuff on tariffs, and what it’s doing in terms of losing competitive edge for domestic production,” Harris said.
Between jabs at President Donald Trump, Harris smiled as she casually discussed an ordinary, enjoyable hobby: cooking.
“One of my girlfriends used to have a big Christmas party and I was in charge of making the greens, and the party grew over the years, so much so that I had to clean out my bathtub with bleach and like really clean it out so I can wash all the greens,” Harris said, laughing.
‘Blatant corruption,’ ‘callous nature’
During her talk, Harris also shouted out an audience member familiar to some in the Middle Georgia area, LeMario Brown — a farmer, business owner and Democrat running for Georgia Senate District 18, which covers Macon and surrounding counties.
Continuing on the topic of Georgia, she slammed the FBI’s raid of the Fulton County elections office, in which the agency seized hundreds of 2020 election ballot boxes on Jan. 28.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who oversees the state’s election processes, called the FBI’s search warrant “baseless,” Georgia Public Broadcasting reported.
“Let’s talk about what’s happening in Fulton County, come on, and you know what that’s about,” Harris said. “That affidavit that was the so-called legal basis for them going into a local elections office was full of…” she paused, and attendees laughed at how she might finish the sentence. She called it, “Propaganda. And debunked theories of what the election was.”
Harris suggested the raid was a step toward Trump trying to take over elections. She told people to take it as seriously.
“They’re trying to discredit local authorities from having the ability to run local elections… What you think’s coming next?” she said. “Don’t think it’s not possible when this man talks about nationalizing elections, cause he’s afraid that his party’s gonna lose in 2026, cause of all they’ve been doing.”
Harris said “blatant corruption” and “callous nature” at the White House have trickled into all communities, “regardless of how people voted.”
Trump’s overall approval rating has dropped since he took office over a year ago, according to Gallup, an unbiased American opinion polling company.
In chapters written as Harris’ journal entries, her recent book “107 Days” explores the long days of the shortest presidential campaign in modern history. In the book, Harris calls out former President Joe Biden’s lack of notice that he would drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
Some attendees raised their phones to record Bailey’s final question for Harris: “What’s next?”
“I’m getting on a bus and I’m going to Montgomery tonight,” Harris said. “Next politically is the midterms, I’m gonna be out here campaigning for as many folks as I can.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 10:12 AM.
