Over the weekend, CNN published a damining report about Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden White House.
Staffers for Harris are frustrated and think she is being set up to fail by the Biden administration.
This comes on top of Harris’ awful poll numbers, which are even worse than Biden’s.
Exasperation and dysfunction: Inside Kamala Harris’ frustrating start as vice president
Worn out by what they see as entrenched dysfunction and lack of focus, key West Wing aides have largely thrown up their hands at Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff — deciding there simply isn’t time to deal with them right now, especially at a moment when President Joe Biden faces quickly multiplying legislative and political concerns.
The exasperation runs both ways. Interviews with nearly three dozen former and current Harris aides, administration officials, Democratic operatives, donors and outside advisers — who spoke extensively to CNN — reveal a complex reality inside the White House. Many in the vice president’s circle fume that she’s not being adequately prepared or positioned, and instead is being sidelined.
The vice president herself has told several confidants she feels constrained in what she’s able to do politically. And those around her remain wary of even hinting at future political ambitions, with Biden’s team highly attuned to signs of disloyalty, particularly from the vice president…
Few of the insiders who spoke with CNN think she’s being well-prepared for whichever role it will be. Harris is struggling with a rocky relationship with some parts of the White House, while long-time supporters feel abandoned and see no coherent public sense of what she’s done or been trying to do as vice president. Being the first woman, and first woman of color, in national elected office is historic but has also come with outsized scrutiny and no forgiveness for even small errors, as she’ll often point out.
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Defenders and people who care for Harris are getting frantic.
The White House tried to do damage control over this on Sunday night by having Jen Psaki tweet this message:
For anyone who needs to hear it. @VP is not only a vital partner to @POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) November 15, 2021
WOW — the White House is so rattled by reporting on dysfunction between Biden and Harris they're putting out defensive statements.
Love that Psaki is touting Kamala's leadership on "root causes of immigration," an effort that has become a punchline as the border collapsed. https://t.co/GElM0D69og
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) November 15, 2021
Who are the Democrats going to run in 2024 if it’s not Biden or Harris?
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