A new report says Vice President Kamala Harris' staff is not doing enough to support the Biden administration's presidential campaign as Democrats languish in the polls with less than a month until the Nov. 5 election. They are starting to criticize him for not taking it.
Despite the show of solidarity between Harris and President Biden after Biden withdrew from the race, some staffers have reportedly clashed behind the scenes.
Privately, some members of Ms. Harris' team have feuded with Mr. Biden's White House staff, feeling that they have not properly prioritized Mr. Biden's campaign, but some members of Mr. People still have raw emotions about Biden's ouster.
A Harris-Waltz campaign official said, “There is no one in the White House who is the first to think about how the situation will affect the election campaign.'' told Axios.
As the Harris-Waltz campaign grapples with a close election, some people close to Harris say they feel the White House is not coordinating the president's schedule and message in the way he needs. Axios reported this, citing 10 people involved.
“They have too much emotion,” a Harris ally told President Biden's press office.
Just this month, the 81-year-old Biden shocked reporters by holding his first White House briefing room press conference as president, but it also led some in Harris's world to believe that the Some felt that media oxygen was taken away from her rallies.
Last week, Harris, 59, spoke to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after reports that her team had declined an offer to speak by phone with him in the wake of Hurricane Helen late last month. – Opposed to Mr. DeSantis (Republican).
Biden then praised DeSantis' work in preparing the Sunshine State for Hurricane Milton. He also spoke by phone with DeSantis. All of this provided fodder for the conservative critics who plagued the Harris campaign.
Asked about the Axios report, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told the Post that Biden had endorsed Harris “right after he withdrew from the race,” adding that Biden had endorsed Harris “immediately after he withdrew from the race.” Alluded to the president's refusal to call for a primary election.
Bates asserted that he had “made significant changes to ensure the vice presidential team has all the support and resources it needs,” and that the White House had “successfully completed an unprecedented transition to a new candidate.” ”
Some chose to jump into Harris' campaign even as some White House staffers have been alienated by the Democratic revolt that prompted Biden to withdraw from the race.
A White House official familiar with the move told the Post that Biden's team “needs independence for the vice president and his team to run the campaign the way they want, and our goals serve… “If necessary, we will provide support,” he said.
The official insisted that the Harris-Biden administration is doing what it can “within the rules” to ensure coordination between the Office of the Vice President (OVP), the White House and the Harris-Waltz campaign.
The official said some steps the White House has taken to coordinate include having the vice president's staff present at strategic meetings and accommodating Harris' travel schedule.
The official added that “senior White House aides worked hard to find effective alternatives because of legal restrictions that affect every detail from the White House to the Vice President's Office.” .
But past efforts by some die-hard Biden supporters to avert a summer revolt against Biden have become a major problem for Harris' allies.
Amid the insurrection against Biden, his deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty, famously hinted that it was unlikely that any candidate to replace him would defeat former President Donald Trump.
“Ultimately, we will be switching to a candidate who, according to polls, is less likely to win than Joe Biden, the only person who has defeated Donald Trump,” Flaherty wrote at the time. was.
Ms. Harris has so far staunchly resisted pressure from her party's top strategists to publicly contrast Mr. Biden's unpopular policies.
“I can't think of anything,” Harris told ABC News' “The View” last week when asked if she would have done anything differently during her boss's presidency.
“And I've been a part of most of the decisions that have affected me,” she continued, before clarifying that one difference with Biden is that she intends to have a Republican in her Cabinet.
Given Biden's lackluster approval ratings, these comments gave momentum to the Trump-Vance campaign.
Biden, on the other hand, has emphasized his admiration for Harris, declaring at the Democratic National Convention in August that choosing her as his vice president was “the best decision I've ever made in my career.” .
It is noteworthy that after giving a headline speech on the first night of the convention, Mr. Biden departed on a plane for a long vacation lasting about two weeks.
In the end, once Harris rose to the top, her position against Trump became more competitive than Biden's poll numbers.
The newspaper has reached out to the Harris-Waltz campaign for comment.
