DNC’s secret 2024 report finds Gaza war stance was ‘net-negative’ for Harris campaign

Top Democratic officials who worked on the party’s still-secret autopsy of the 2024 presidential election concluded that Kamala Harris lost meaningful support because of the Biden administration’s approach to Israel’s war in Gaza, according to a report by Axios.

The findings, which remain under lock and key after Democratic leaders opted not to release the report publicly, are already fuelling anger among pro-Palestinian activists and deepening rifts inside the party.

According to Axios, aides compiling the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) internal review held a closed-door meeting with the IMEU Policy Project to discuss the Israel-Gaza war and its electoral impact.

Activists from the group told DNC officials that the Biden-Harris administration’s steadfast support for Israel during its military assault on Gaza alienated young voters and progressives, draining enthusiasm at a critical moment in the presidential campaign.

Social media users agreed, noting they had been saying this since Harris lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump.

Many online also criticised the secret report, calling for the DNC to release the document. 

The Democratic Party knows that Biden and Harris' support for Israel's genocide in Gaza played a role in the catastrophic loss to Trump. @DNC: release the secret report! https://t.co/xp5cYatePM

— Daniel Denvir (@DanielDenvir) February 22, 2026

Hamid Bendaas, a spokesperson for the IMEU Policy Project, said that during the meeting, “the DNC shared with us that their own data also found that policy was, in their words, a ‘net-negative’ in the 2024 election”.

Two additional senior aides at the organisation confirmed that Democratic officials acknowledged the issue harmed the party’s standing with segments of the electorate. Axios said it independently verified that those conducting the autopsy reached a similar conclusion.

So “secret report” contains same findings as publicly available polling.

Is it “secret” because the DNC doesn’t want a public conversation about how Biden and Harris’s support for Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza may have cost them vital votes in swing states? https://t.co/RgHm8Zqw0r

— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) February 23, 2026

Social media users said these findings were no surprise since Israel’s war on Gaza has been going on for over two years, and it continued with all its force during the Biden administration.  The war has been deemed a genocide by the United Nations and genocide scholars. Over 72,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Democratic fault lines

The revelation underscores a widening divide within the Democratic Party over Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Progressive Democrats have grown increasingly critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza and have questioned Washington’s long-standing, unconditional support for Israel.

During her brief 2024 campaign, Harris attempted to strike a balance: reaffirming support for Israel while calling for a ceasefire and expressing sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza, as well as Israeli captives held by Hamas.

But for many young voters and grassroots activists, that balancing act fell short.

This is what the Democrats don't want you to know: Kamala Harris' Gaza policy lost her the election. YouGov polling showed this as well.

Word of warning: Run Harris or another pro-Israel genocide denier and we will be having the same conversation 3 years from now. https://t.co/5Y1N5sjOJ1

— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) February 23, 2026

The secrecy surrounding the report has only intensified scrutiny. Party leaders reportedly decided last year to keep the findings confidential, wary of how they might resonate within the party and beyond.

For activists who spent months organising protests, boycotts and “uncommitted” protest votes during the primaries, the Axios report feels like belated validation.

There is a simmering frustration among centrist Democrats, some of whom had previously dismissed Gaza as electorally marginal, only to now confront reports that the party’s own internal review identified it as a significant factor in the loss. 

The frustration is currently visible in the intense discussions that are taking place on social media. Many remembered the criticism they directed at the Democrats and their supporters during Harris’s campaign and said they were dismissed at the time, only to be vindicated by the report. 

A lot of centrists were pissed about this tweet when the autopsy the Dems are refusing to release seemingly lists Gaza as a major contributing factor to their loss https://t.co/fQSOdeIBib https://t.co/VQZaCJrE3n

— hottiepants (@punishedpants) February 23, 2026

Whether the Democratic leadership will publicly acknowledge those conclusions or adjust course remains to be seen. But if the internal findings are accurate, the war in Gaza was not just a foreign policy flashpoint. It was an electoral liability.