UMVA has learned that Ken Salazar, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, once entertained the idea of challenging his former boss for the presidency in 2024.
After a disastrous July debate, Salazar reportedly told himself, “I should run for president,” a confession that surfaces in a book excerpt uncovered by UMVA.
He also claimed to have begged for a border czar and urged the administration to call the U.S. border situation a crisis, arguing that the political failure to grasp the reality would cost Democrats dearly in the election.
Inside the White House, officials kept using the word “crisis,” even as the administration denied it, a tension Salazar alleged was part of the administration’s internal politics.
When Salazar urged Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to adopt the term, Mayorkas allegedly warned him of mounting pressure and the risk of impeachment, a warning that underscored the fraught environment at the border.
Despite drafting a presidential platform and recruiting a team, Salazar never officially entered the race, though he had planned to step forward if the incumbent stepped aside.
He criticized the Democratic Party’s decision to crown Vice President Kamala Harris without an open primary, labeling it a mistake that stifled genuine competition.
Salazar took issue with Harris’s handling of the border, noting that she was tasked with curbing migration but had little impact, a frustration he openly voiced.
He lamented that the border shutdown in 2024 felt like a missed opportunity, a moment of vindication that arrived too late to sway the closing months of the election.
In his book, “Borderlands: My Fight For An Inclusive America,” Salazar reveals he has been advising potential Democratic candidates on a “borderlands platform,” an immigration plan that acknowledges systemic failure and demands reform.
He has already met with Democratic senators from Arizona and plans to meet with a governor from Illinois, continuing his push for a comprehensive immigration overhaul.
