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NEW YORK — <\/span>It’s never a good sign when a report comes with a big red disclaimer at the top of each page, but that’s what happened on Thursday when the Democratic National Committee belatedly released<\/a> its controversial autopsy report on the 2024 election. <\/p>\n \u201cThis document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC,” the disclaimer said. “The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s an inauspicious label on a document that has caused so much heartburn. Ken Martin, the DNC chair, originally promised to release the autopsy, then decided to keep it under wraps because he said he didn’t want to cause a distraction ahead of the midterms. <\/p>\n After months of handwringing<\/a>, Martin released the report on Thursday, saying it was only withheld because it was so shoddily done. <\/p>\n After all that, what’s in the report? Here are some takeaways from the 192 pages. <\/p>\n The report is far from comprehensive, and it avoids some of the most critical factors in the 2024 race.<\/p>\n For example, it doesn’t address President Joe Biden’s decision to run for a second term at 81, despite widespread concerns about his age.<\/a> Biden dropped out<\/a> after a faltering debate performance<\/a>, and Harris was quickly anointed<\/a> to replace him at the top of the ticket. <\/p>\n After serving as Biden’s vice president, Harris was viewed in some corners as the natural choice for a new nominee.<\/a> But the report does not address lingering concerns that the process was rushed or should have been handled in a more deliberative manner.<\/p>\n Perhaps most notably, the words \u201cGaza\u201d and \u201cIsrael\u201d do not appear anywhere in the text. Democrats suffered from internal disagreements<\/a> over the conflict, which sapped enthusiasm for Harris among voters who were upset by the Biden administration’s support for Israel. <\/p>\n Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, a state with a significant Arab American population<\/a>, said it was wrong to leave out the topic at a time when Jewish and Muslim communities were both dealing with rising hatred. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t turn out heads,\u201d she said. “We’ve got to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n The report found that the Biden White House did not \u201cposition or prepare the vice president\u201d in a way that would allow her to lead a successful campaign.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until Biden announced his departure from the race in July that the campaign\u2019s polling team scrambled to get fresh public opinion on three key areas \u2014 \u201cone on the Vice President\u2019s biography and record, one on her vision and plan, and another on attacks and responses.\u201d<\/p>\n The team also determined Harris had no answer on a sensitive issue<\/a>: The Trump campaign’s anti-transgender attacks. Specifically, the report highlighted the pollsters\u2019 belief that the Democratic nominee was \u201cboxed\u201d in by Republicans’ \u201cvery effective\u201d advertisement highlighting Harris\u2019 previous support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.<\/p>\n \u201cKamala is for they\/them, President Trump is for you,” the ad said. <\/p>\n The report said: \u201cIf the Vice President would not change her position \u2014 and she did not \u2014 then there was nothing which would have worked as a response.\u201d<\/p>\n There’s been no shortage of criticism toward Harris’ campaign after her defeat. Some Democrats think she spent too much time campaigning with Republicans like Liz Cheney<\/a>, others think she lacked a strong economic message<\/a>.<\/p>\n The autopsy report reaches a different conclusion, saying not enough was done to convince voters that Trump was an unacceptable candidate. <\/p>\n \u201cThere was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,\u201d the report states. \u201cThe Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n At another point, the report says, “Democrats made a mistake by assuming voters were already aware of Trump’s various weaknesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea Trump\u2019s negatives were \u2018baked in\u2019 is a major failure of analysis and reality,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n DNC leadership did not appear to like these conclusions, adding annotations like \u201cno evidence provided; contradicts claims elsewhere in report\u201d and \u201cno sourcing or evidence provided.\u201d<\/p>\n