Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said rumors of a 2016 staff shake-up for Clinton would be "not good" and "demoralizing" for her team.
On Tuesday, CNN's John Berman brought up "an uncomfortable discussion" about the recent rumors about a Clinton staff shake-up so close to the New Hampshire primary, particularly with Clinton trailing rival Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in New Hampshire.
"What does it tell you that these stories even bubble to the surface?" Berman asked.
Doyle said the timing of it was particularly bad for the Clinton team.
"Well, first of all, we know it's not true because both Hillary Clinton and John Podesta came out and said it's not true," she said.
"They're going to take stock. But look, it's not good. Particularly the timing. First of all, it's demoralizing to the staff—for the staff who have been working, you know, 16-, 18-, 20-hour days even to read this is demoralizing. Two, the timing's not great. You know, in 2008 when rumors came out about a shakeup, it happened in New Hampshire. It happened just as the polls were closing. This time around, it's happening the day before. You know, that could affect turnouts for Hillary Clinton."
Clinton barely squeaked out a victory over Sanders in the Iowa caucus, but a loss in New Hampshire would be a massive turnaround from her last showing there, where she defeated Barack Obama in the primary and made it clear her 2008 campaign would not end quietly.