In a fresh report, Vice President Kamala Harris has revealed her frustration with President Joe Biden and the tension she feels around him.
Harris and her top staff are annoyed with Biden because they defend Pete Buttigieg the transportation secretary more aggressively than them and give her ‘no win’ issues like border crisis. According to CNN’s report, which cites interviews with many former Harris aides.
Biden’s staff also reported being frustrated by Harris’s private comments about controversies that they consider self-inflicted. For example, her “awkward” laughter when she was asked about crossing the border.
As her approval ratings have plummeted even more than Biden’s over the past months, there are rumours among his staff that he may be considering secretly appointing him to the Supreme Court in order to select a new Vice President.
The White House has made it clear that Harris and Biden have a harmonious, productive relationship.
On Sunday night, White House Press Secretary Jenn Psaki appeared to respond to the CNN report with a furious tweet insisting that Harris is a ‘vital partner’ and ‘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.’
Harris’s aides privately complain that Harris was set up for failure and given a portfolio not appropriate to her historical status of being the first female and first person of color to be elected vice president.
CNN spoke with a Harris ex-aide who said that Harris is sending Harris out on a consistent basis to help her lose cases in inappropriate situations.
In a new report, Vice President Kamala Harris has revealed her frustration with President Joe Biden and the tension she is causing.
The White House claims that the partnership between Harris and Biden is still productive and harmonious. Harris aides feel that Harris is being set up for failure.
In general, an incumbent vice-president is considered an automatically locked candidate in the party’s next open field presidential primary.
It’s unclear for Democrats whether this day will arrive in 2024 if Biden does not seek reelection at 80 years old, or 2028 if he runs as promised publicly and privately.
In any case, the top Democrats are already scouting Harris’ poll numbers in order to assess whether Harris is vulnerable to primary challenges. Many have begun to prepare for their own campaigns, even quietly.
Harris and her loyalists see it as a moment of political death less than one year into Harris’ term. Top aides are worried that Harris will pay for loyalty to President Trump and willingness to accept what they consider to be thankless tasks.
In response to the reports of mounting frustrations in Harris’ inner circle, Harris spokeswoman Symone Sanders insisted that the talk amounted to pointless ‘gossip’.
Sanders said that it was unfortunate that, after an productive trip in France where America’s oldest ally was reaffirmed and U.S. leader on the global stage, and with passage of a bipartisan historic infrastructure bill that will create job opportunities and strengthen communities, many in the media have shifted their attention to gossip and not the actual results achieved by the President and Vice President,’ Sanders explained to CNN.
White House officials claim that Harris was left out of the fray after they rushed to Buttigieg’s rescue.
Harris’ aides claim that West Wing staff gave Harris the cold shoulder during public controversy, and then rushed to defend other high-ranking administration officials.
As an example, When Tucker Carlson of Fox News mocked Buttigieg for taking paternity leaves for his child, Jen Psaki from the White House reacted strongly, calling Buttigieg a “role-model”.
A former Harris assistant told CNN that it was hard to ignore the White House’s energy to protect white men. He also noted that Kamala Harris had spent close to a full year performing hits that the West Wing did not want to perform.
Former Harris aide lashed out against the West Wing because it defended Pete Buttigieg, a ‘white man,’ after his recent paternity leaves. Harris was allegedly still in the cold
Tensions are likely to be heightened by Buttigieg’s potential challenger in next year’s open-field presidential primaries. If he wins the nomination, Buttigieg will also be a ‘historical first’ for Democrats as he is openly gay.
Buttigieg, as Transportation Secretary, has witnessed his political star skyrocket with Biden’s $1 Trillion infrastructure package. Much of this infrastructure package he will manage.
The massive budget gives Buttigieg an opening to address his main weakness, his unpopularity with black voters, and he has already seized the opportunity by touting $1 billion in the bill to help reconnect cities and neighborhoods that were racially segregated or divided by road projects.
West Wing advisers claim that they didn’t oppose one another when defending Buttigieg.
According to them, the differences in responses are due to the differences in the controversies.
According to them, Buttigieg had not done any wrong taking paternity Leave — it provided a good opportunity for Biden to endorse his plans for paid family leaves as part of his Social Spending Package.
White House officials claim Harris was unable to respond to a student’s accusation of Israel’s ethnic genocide during a school visit.
This was an infernal mess that West Wing staff did not want to get out of.
Still, frustration remains over Biden’s decision to assign Harris as the migrant crisis manager
Harris and her team are still angry at Biden for assigning Harris to deal with the “root cause” of illegal immigration to the US. This is a hot political topic that has no easy wins, which could be damaging to Biden’s future political ambitions.
Biden administration faced its first crisis when a surge in migrants crossed the southern border. Video and photographs of poor conditions for unaccompanied minors soon became an issue.
Biden gave Harris the responsibility of handling diplomatic relations with the Northern Triangle countries in an effort to address the root causes for migration to the US. However, Harris did not get the chance to do so, as she repeatedly pointed out regarding the humanitarian crisis at its border.
Harris was a prominent public figure in the crisis. This angered her loyalists, who felt she had been placed in a difficult political position.
Biden’s crew was reported to be dissatisfied by Biden’s muddled responses to border questions. Biden even made an awkward laugh at Lester Holt when she asked her.
Biden’s staff was reported to have been annoyed at Harris’ incoherent responses to questions regarding the border. This included an awkward smile (above), when Lester Holt asked her about it
The West Wing also became irritated by Harris’s last-minute visit to the Border with no warning to White House. Others believe that it was an error and Biden’s chief staff knew of Harris’s trip but kept it sealed to stop leaks.
Harris’ close circle believes that Harris was not defended by the White House in spite of being criticized over her border crossing.
One source said that Harris had been given the task of delivering Harris’ harsh message to migrants warning them that they ‘do NOT come’. This policy was also a cause for anger among the Democratic Party progressives, according CNN.
Harris expressed anger at not having more information on Afghanistan
Harris complained to her confidantes about not being given more control and access to Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan of US troops.
According to her aides, Biden was not given the proper background or briefing when the plan turned into a deadly disaster.
Harris claimed that Harris was the “last voice in the room” when Biden committed to withdrawing.
Harris watches as Biden discusses the evacuation of American citizens, families and SIV applicants, in the East Room, White House.
Harris requested that voting rights be given to her. Her team seems to be disappointed by the fact that Biden instead has focused the attention, as well as the energy, of Congress on his ambitious spending plans.
“Kamala Harris” is an example of a leader, but she isn’t being placed in leadership positions. This is absurd. “We need to think long-term, and do what is best for the party,” a leading donor to Biden told CNN.
You should put her in positions that will allow her to achieve success, not weight on her. You and the party would grow if she had the courage to take charge and lead.
Understaffing has left the office of the Vice President in a mess: A few aides have begun to look for work elsewhere.
CNN reports that Tina Flournoy Harris, Harris’ chief-of-staff, told Ron Klain, Biden’s chief chief of staff, that the office was in serious trouble and required more assistance.
Klain was known as an ally of Harris and advised Harris that her office had a separate budget. He encouraged Harris to be creative in finding the resources she needed.
The DNC then hired a consultant to assist with Harris’ portfolio. However, it is not going well according to people who know.
Kamala Harris has seen a marked decrease in face-to-face interactions with Joe Biden during her daily routine
Harris recently hired Lorraine Voles (left), and Adam Frankel, (right), to help with “organizational development and strategic communications, and long-term planning.”
Harris hired two senior advisors, one of which was Psaki’s brother-in law Adam Frankel. He and former Al Gore advisor Lorraine Voles are tasked with ‘organizational development, strategic communications and long-term planning.’
Meanwhile, Flournoy has been turned down by several others who are unwilling to work in Harris’ office.
CNN reports that Harris employees have quietly reached out to other contacts in search of new opportunities.
Klain dismissed criticism of Harris as a vice president and told CNN that Harris and her team are ‘offing to the strongest and fastest start I’ve ever seen for any Vice President.
Harris disputes DNC’s decision to hand over her email list for campaign purposes
CNN reported that Harris’ team has been fighting the Democratic National Committee for years, in an unprecedented tug-of-war.
The DNC needed the email addresses from her super PAC and campaign, which would be a great fundraising tool to boost the party.
Harris could signal her willingness to cooperate by proving she’s a team player. Harris would lose control of a foundation that was crucially built for her presidential run.
After delivering remarks about the passing of the Bipartisan infrastructure deal on November 6, US President Joe Biden, and US Vice President Kamala Harris left the building,
Flournoy ended the conflict by handing over the list to DNC lawyers.
CNN reported that months later the DNC email list has still not arrived.
Harris staff have been informed that the transfer is being held up due to an investigation by the Federal Election Commission into the Biden campaign.
Harris aids worry about the outside influences: They fear being directed to her family’s advice.
Harris’ aides worry that Harris is relying too heavily on Maya Harris, Tony West’s brother and Meena Harris to get advice.
Harris relied in the past on her network outside of her immediate family. This is not unusual for vice-presidents and presidents.
However, aides are always afraid of access that they cannot control and advice that they won’t hear. They may also suspect Harris’ network to do more harm than good.
Harris’ aides worry that Harris is relying too heavily on Maya Harris (right), Tony West (left), and Meena Harris, her niece (left) to get advice
CNN was informed by several people who are familiar with the situation that the family had been pushing further away from the beginning of the year due to an increase in participation.
Harris’ political struggles have led her to believe that her friends are conspiring against her.
Some believe that the president has abandoned her. Others think she is being left out in the cold by West Wing staffers. Perhaps this could be because of lingering grudges.
A series of leaks by the West Wing, questioning her political judgment and decribing dysfunction within her office have not helped.