With Election Day just over three weeks away, tensions are rising between Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign team and President Joe Biden’s senior staff, multiple sources told Axios.
"They're too much in their feelings," one Harris ally said of Biden’s staff, a view echoed by some White House aides.
Many of the president’s aides are still hurt by Biden’s forced exit from the race and are struggling to adjust to a supportive role, Axios reported. Harris’s team has complained of the White House’s lack of coordination with the campaign, saying Biden’s team has not involved campaign aides in decisions that could affect the vice president. Harris's team also accused Biden’s aides of not adequately coordinating his messaging and schedule to align with what is best for his vice president's campaign.
"The White House is lacking someone in the room thinking first and foremost about how things would affect the campaign," one person involved with Harris's campaign told Axios.
Biden gave a surprise press conference in the White House briefing room this month just as Harris was about to rally in Michigan, causing her event to get less television coverage.
Harris and Biden have also made conflicting comments about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R.) response to the recent hurricanes. Harris criticized DeSantis for not taking her call, saying he is "selfish" and "irresponsible." A day later Biden praised the governor for how he prepped the Sunshine State to weather the storm.
Since replacing her boss at the top of the Democratic ticket, Harris has struggled to balance remaining loyal to her unpopular boss while also presenting herself as the "candidate of change" and distancing her campaign from the failures of the Biden administration.