After four of their departures in the last two weeks, more staff are looking to leave Vice President Kamala Harri’s office.
Kamala Harris was labelled a “bully” who inflicted constant-soul-destroying criticism on her staff through a damaging expose in a liberal newspaper.
The Washington Post piece – a result of interviews with 18 people connected to the VP – also alleges that she’d fail to read briefings they’d prepared, only to turn on them if she was subsequently criticized for being unprepared.
The claims from staff who worked for Harris were publishthered amid confirmed departures of two high level staffers, with two others who are said to be heading for the door too.
“It is clear that you are not working with someone who is willing and able to do the prep work,” a former colleague stated to The Washington Post.
Kamala must endure constant criticism from her inner critics and lack of confidence.
“So, you are constantly kind of prop up a bully and that’s not really why.” Harris’s staff
Politico was told by people familiar with these conversations that Harris’ key members are looking for exits and expressed an interest in leaving her position less than one year after she assumed the vice presidency.
Symone Sanders is among the staffers who are leaving Harris’ office. She was the chief spokesperson and senior advisor, as well as one of the vice-president’s close aides. Ashley Etienne is the communications director for Harris’ office.
Officials insist that Etienne and Sanders were not causing the turmoil and their departures had been planned.
Symone Sanders, Harris’ chief spokesperson and senior advisor (left), will be leaving the White House at the end of this month. Her departure comes after Ashley Etienne (right), Harris’ former communications director, left last month
Vice president Peter Velz and Vince Evans were both told by officials in their offices that they would be leaving.
Both will likely remain with the administration and take up jobs that are closely coordinated with the White House.
Some Democratic allies have urged Harris to embrace the concept of a reset after a rocky first year as vice president, which has been riddled with project failures – like addressing the southern border crisis – and reports of tensions between her team and the president’s.
According to top Democrats, her poll ratings are down and they have expressed concern about the possibility of her running in 2024 for President if Joe Biden does not seek another term.
Harris staff members are leaving Harris because they are exhausted, they have better opportunities and don’t want the stigma of being a Harris person forever, according to Axios.
Politico announced Wednesday that Symone Sanders, chief spokesperson for Harris after the resignation of Ashley Etienne (communications director), was expected to depart by the end the year.
Axios reported that Sanders was getting married in the next year, but was unable to travel on an actual tour to promote her book, No, You Shut Up, published May 2020.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Vince Evans (right) and Peter Velz (left), two additional staffers are considering leaving.
Gin Duran is an Harris aide, who quit her job after having worked with her for five years.
Duran stated that one of the main things they’ve discussed in their text groups was what common denominator is all this, and it was her. Duran spoke to the Post. “Who are your next talents you plan to hire and make them redundant, then let (them), pretend they’re retiring because of positive reasons.
Harris tried to dispel rumors about tension when she spoke out on Sanders’ departure at a gathering during her North Carolina trip Thursday.
Vice President Symone said, “I love Symone,” “And that is what I meant.
“I’m excited to see the next thing she does. I know that it’s been three years jumping on and off planes, going around the country …’ Harris continued.
Sanders joined President Joe Biden’s 2019 presidential campaign.
Harris did not respond to further questions regarding the wave of departures.
Harris stated, “Well, I’ve already told you what I think about Symone.”
During the trip, Harris’ personal aide, Opal Vadhan, posted a photo of the VP’s team all smiling as they celebrated the birthday of Deputy Director of Advance, Juan Ortega.
“Happy Birthday, @VP” is a favorite tradition at the office of @JuanoBano! Happy birthday @JuanoBano “Happy Birthday, @JuanoBano!” she wrote.
Harris visited Charlotte to visit a transit system and gave a speech about the bipartisan infrastructure bill with Pete Buttigieg (her rumored rival).
Before they boarded Air Force Two, she hugged Transportation Secretary. Buttigieg answered questions only from one of the many reporters.
When Harris and Buttigieg arrived at Charlotte Area Transit System Bus and Light Rail Garage, Harris sat down in the drivers’ seat of an electric bus, pretending to drive the vehicle and honking the horn.
Harris chortled as Buttigieg watched, and said that “the wheels of the bus go round and around.”
Some Democrats want Buttigieg, despite high poll numbers, to take Harris’ place at the top of their ticket in 2024. If Biden does not run, they will push for Buttigieg.
Harris and Pete Buttigieg, Transportation Secretary, toured an electric vehicle at Charlotte Area Transit System Bus and Light Rail Garage. An eerie mix of poll results in the 20s suggests that Democrats would like to see Buttigieg replace Harris at top of the ticket for 2024.
Although the White House claims that Biden will run for another term, he will turn 82 years old in 2024.
During remarks made in Charlotte by Harris, he thanked GOP North Carolina Senators. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr voted for the Infrastructure and Jobs Act.
“Because they work, because of our collective work, America is moving again.”
She also supported the passage of Build back Better, which the vice president called ‘part 2’ of Biden Harris’s agenda.
“It’s not fair that senior citizens are going to debt in order to purchase their medications. They shouldn’t have to cut their medication because they cannot afford it.
It’s not fair that parents have to give up their jobs in order to take care of family members. It’s not right that families have to choose to buy groceries, or pay forth health care. It’s to fill their tanks or rent their apartment.
Last month, Harris hit back at claims she is being misused as vice president, saying she doesn’t feel like she’s being under utilized by Biden and dismissed her low approval ratings which plummeted to 28% in a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of registered voters earlier this month.
Harris stated that polls are a mixed bag. But I think it is important that we are consistent about what we should do in order to address the current issues.
Sanders left without a job offer, so it is unclear if Sanders will be looking for another one. This raises questions about her circumstances.
She announced her resignation following that of Ashley Etienne, Harris’ communications director, who is leaving the White House this month to ‘to pursue new opportunities.
Harris has been facing mounting criticisms that her office is in chaos and her team are frustrated that she is being given ‘no win’ tasks, like tackling the root causes of the current border crisis.
Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, said Thursday that the departures of staff were caused by Harris’ bad headlines. She also stated that it is exhausting and difficult to work in an administration’s first year.
“It is natural for employees who put so much into their job to be ready to go after a few more years,” she stated.
Psaki, praising Sanders’s work in the administration said Sanders had ‘charm coming out her eyeballs’
Harris was often accompanied by Sanders, and Sanders served as her senior advisor to help Harris manage a complex portfolio that included the issue of migrant workers and advocate for an overhaul in federal election laws.
Harris is experiencing a decline in approval ratings, which has threatened what was normally a path to the Democratic nomination for President in 2028. Or 2024 if Biden doesn’t seek re-election at the age of 81.
Sanders was Harris’ most trusted bulldog protector in times of turmoil, responding to claims that Harris is in internal chaos and tension with West Wing.
Sanders responded to the CNN detailed report last month in which Harris’ aides claimed that Sanders has been set up for failure and that she was given a portfolio not appropriate to her historical status of being the first women and first person of color to be elected vice president.
According to a bombshell report, a Harris former aide stated that Harris is sending Harris consistently out to her on the losing of issues and in the wrong circumstances for her skills.
Sanders fired back in a statement: ‘It is unfortunate that after a productive trip to France in which we reaffirmed our relationship with America’s oldest ally and demonstrated U.S. leadership on the world stage, and following passage of a historic, bipartisan infrastructure bill that will create jobs and strengthen our communities, some in the media are focused on gossip – not on the results that the President and the Vice President have delivered.’
Sanders (right), Harris’ most trusted bulldog defender in times of turmoil, has fought back against claims of tension and internal disorder with the West Wing.
A representative from the office of the vice president pointed out that Sanders was a former Biden campaign assistant and had worked for the administration for at least three years. He also said that Biden had known about Harris’ departure for a while.
Etienne’s plans to go was confirmed by Etienne on November 18.
“Ashley has been a valued team member and worked hard to achieve the administration’s goals,” a White House official said. A White House official said that she was leaving in December to take up other opportunities.
Harris and Biden strongly deny any tension exists between them. They also denied reports that they were in conflict based mainly on accounts from anonymous staffers.
The White House went full throat with their defense of her after a CNN report claimed Biden was distancing himself from Harris because of her sliding poll numbers, while the vice president is said to have felt isolated and frustrated with being given some of the most difficult issues for the administration in her portfolio.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain tweeted Harris is an ‘incredible leader’ and Psaki argued Harris receives more criticism because of her status as a woman of color.
Harris was the nation’s first woman vice president, and also the first vice president for people of color.
Although the president publicly stated that he will run for re-election, pundits believe that declaring he plans to resign after only one term would make him a weak leader.
There has been some anonymous talk among Democrats suggesting that Harris should be replaced if he does.
Additional speculation suggests that Harris may not run for the nomination again if he does. Others have suggested Buttigieg might be the better nominee for the nomination.
A recent Politico/Morning Consult poll showed the transportation secretary with a higher favorability rating than both Biden and Harris – whom he led by 12 points.