Sources close to the White House have reported an ongoing rift between President Biden and his team and Kamala Harris and her team — with issues dating back to the first weeks after Harris was nominated by the Democratic Party.
While Biden's top surrogates are expected to continue to appear on television or be replaced by new Harris surrogates, the debate is over whether Biden is undermining Harris' messages. Other issues included accusations from Harris' side that the White House did not move quickly enough to add staff to the vice president's office to help handle the increased workload. Revelations have been revealed A new report Axios published on Sunday.
“Everyone from the president down knows how important the election is, and we always expected that many officials would want to transition the administration into the final stretch of the campaign,” a White House official told Axios. But at the same time, The White House Other sources inside the White House told Fox News that Harris is frustrated with the camp's rules about who can be reassigned to her office and when.
Meanwhile, Biden's team was also reportedly frustrated by Biden's exit from the race, sources said, leading them to take a backseat to the vice president.
Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre was promoted to a new leadership role by President Biden
According to polling data, less than a third of Americans believe the country is on the right path. (Getty Images)
“They are very emotional,” a Harris aide close to the campaign told Axios.
One example of Biden not properly coordinating his message and schedule came Friday, cited by Harris campaign aides. Biden held an impromptu news conference at the White House to update the American public on the administration's efforts to help combat the hurricane. Meanwhile, Harris was campaigning in Michigan at the same time, and the dual events effectively reduced Harris' eye count.
Biden was supposed to be out of the country that day, but felt it was essential to stay behind and oversee response efforts to hurricanes Milton and Helen.
The conflict did not stop there either. Last week, Harris criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for playing political games and not doing what was best for the American people, after claiming that the Sunshine State governor had ignored his pleas to discuss hurricane relief efforts. On Friday, while Biden was scheduled to be abroad, he downplayed Harris' description of DeSantis while praising the Florida governor's work after the storm, calling him a “collaborator” and acknowledging that he was doing a “great work”.
Biden downplays Harris' claim that Ron DeSantis is politicizing hurricane response: 'Doing a great job'
White House sources told Fox News that Harris is playing a joke on DeSantis. It was a “dumb job for him,” adding that Biden's team thought they were doing everything possible to give Harris a chance to show leadership, but he blocked them. At least one source who spoke to Fox News said the Harris campaign's weak messaging on the issue was due to its own poor planning, not that of the White House.
President Biden resigned and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
Harris' campaign declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. However, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates praised Biden's continued support for Harris in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“President Biden The vice president supported Harris when she dropped out of the race, rejecting other approaches that could divide the party, and demonstrated his ability to lead and continued to make clear his support for him,” Bates said.
“While ensuring that all critical functions of the White House are fully operational, we have made significant changes to ensure that the Vice President's team has all the support and resources they need,” Bates said. “This creates a strong, trusting relationship between both parties, which is critical to successfully executing an unprecedented transition to a new candidate.”
