October 14, 2024
There is mounting tenseness and confusion between the White House and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign as the 2024 presidential race approaches, according to an Axios report. The friction is because the Harris administration struggles to figure out how to align with this legacy of President Joe Biden’s government.
The president resigned from his re-election campaign, and the senior Biden aides are still reeling, as the national political correspondent Alex Thompson of Axios reported. That has shifted their behavior in ways that have left them adjusting to backing Harris as the Democratic nominee. Another Harris aide told Axios the White House team is “too emotional” and having a bickering fit.
The key is that there was no coordination between the Biden and Harris camps, according to Axios. According to the Harris campaign, Biden’s team thinks they are not aligning his messages and schedule to coincide with the vice president’s strategy. “The White House is lacking someone in the room thinking first and foremost about how things would affect the campaign,” a Harris campaign aide told Axios.
Two particular incidents have illustrated this misalignment between the camps. Biden arranged an on-the-fly press conference while Harris went on a campaign trip to Michigan on Friday. The timing reportedly annoyed Harris’ staff, who saw the appearance of the president as a distraction from their planned campaign messaging.
Another recent event that put Biden under pressure was Biden’s outspoken praise of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for handling the hurricane recovery. Harris also slated DeSantis for declining to return calls during storm recovery, though Biden wasn’t told of Harris’ comment according to sources, who believe Biden never knew before he praised DeSantis. This disconnect revealed that the White House and Harris campaign did not get it right.
Aside from these high-profile fracas, Thompson’s report also listed questionable chemistry between some Harris campaign personnel and Biden’s former staffers who now stand with Harris. As the campaign prepares to fight for one last shot at an election, it has strained about whether Biden’s key surrogates should stay in place or be swapped out for someone new. This has also generated some further tension, especially with Biden staffers who have felt called liars for changing their focus to Harris’ campaign.
Even through these setbacks, according to the report, Biden’s team still primarily focuses on getting Harris elected president. But the shift from Biden to Harris has not gone so smoothly for some aides, which has caused them concern about what their role is and who they support.
The tensions were settled by White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates, speaking to Fox News Digital, who said Biden is “consistently committed” to Harris. Bates pointed out that Biden had supported Harris immediately after stepping away and remains an advocate for her. He also noted some significant adjustments to give Harris’ campaign team the resources and support it requires to win the campaign.
“While ensuring that all critical White House functions are fully staffed, we have made significant changes to guarantee the Vice President’s team has all of the support and resources that they need. This builds on a strong, trusting relationship between both teams, which has been critical to successfully executing an unprecedented transition to a new candidate,” Bates told Fox News.
Neither the Harris campaign nor the campaign have commented publicly on any tensions. But with less than a month to go before the election, both campaigns will have to work together to ensure they come out with a similar message and plan if Harris wants to win in November.
