White House Scrambles to Defend Kamala's Honor

If you’ve been around here long enough, you know that we at PJ Media aren’t big fans of Kamala Harris. She’s become better known for her gaffes than for anything substantive that she’s done. And now CNN has published an exposé of a “frustrating” season characterized by “exasperation and dysfunction” for the vice president and her team.

Edward-Isaac Dovere and Jasmine Wright write:

Many in the vice president’s circle fume that she’s not being adequately prepared or positioned, and instead is being sidelined. The vice president herself has told several confidants she feels constrained in what she’s able to do politically. And those around her remain wary of even hinting at future political ambitions, with Biden’s team highly attuned to signs of disloyalty, particularly from the vice president.

Even with the historic nature of a Harris vice presidency, the tension remains in that she often feels isolated and left to twist in the wind by the rest of the administration:

Harris is struggling with a rocky relationship with some parts of the White House, while long-time supporters feel abandoned and see no coherent public sense of what she’s done or been trying to do as vice president. Being the first woman, and first woman of color, in national elected office is historic but has also come with outsized scrutiny and no forgiveness for even small errors, as she’ll often point out.

My PJ Media colleague Jeff Reynolds remarked, “Since when has anyone cared about someone’s vice presidency? Is that a separate thing now?” Well, apparently so, and CNN has hit a nerve with the Harris team.

The vice president’s spokesperson Symone Sanders is responding to the CNN piece, which she calls “gossip.” She tweeted, “It is unfortunate that after a productive trip to France in which we reaffirmed our relationship with America’s oldest ally and demonstrated U.S. leadership on the world stage, and following passage of a historic, bipartisan infrastructure bill that will create jobs and strengthen our communities, some in the media are focused on gossip — not on the results that the President and Vice President have delivered.”

Let me reiterate: pic.twitter.com/zAxoXkFyQu

— SDS (@SymoneSanders46) November 14, 2021

Harris’ assistant press secretary weighed in as well.

Proud to be on team @VP every single day. pic.twitter.com/YP1gBohJGW

— Rachel Palermo (@RachelPalermo46) November 14, 2021

The White House is also scrambling to defend Harris’ honor. Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted, “For anyone who needs to hear it. @VP is not only a vital partner to @POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.”

For anyone who needs to hear it. @VP is not only a vital partner to @POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.

— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) November 15, 2021

These platitudes are all well and good as our border crisis — which the administration put Harris in charge of handling — continues to rage out of control. The only true measures to secure and improve voting rights and opportunities are coming from red states like Georgia and Texas. And my internet speeds haven’t gotten any better because of Kamala, have yours?

Meanwhile, her approval ratings continue to plummet, along with those of the rest of the administration. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll has Harris at 28% approval and a whopping 51% disapproval. That’s 10 points below that of Joe Biden, and that’s not good.

The administration continues to be fodder for satire, as a recent Babylon Bee article demonstrated:

Good News For Dems: Biden And Harris Now Polling At 66% Approval If You Combine Their Numbers https://t.co/vxDt5TcRm1

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) November 13, 2021

Sure, we can expect that Team Kamala would rush to her defense. I would be disappointed in them if they didn’t. But if she and her team — along with pretty much anyone else in the Biden administration — want to turn their fortunes around, they should concentrate on making sure Kamala avoids fake French accents and dismissing the border crisis, rather than focusing on imaginary progress on “voting rights” and “broadband.”

Clearly, Kamala and her staff have their work cut out for them, and it starts from within. We’ll see if they can right that ship anytime soon.