Top female Democrats and Kamala Harris allies convened a "crisis dinner" to discuss responding to the vice president's and her office's recent barrage of negative news.
According to a new report, the Democratic women believe Vice President Kamala Harris' low popularity rating is due to sexist media coverage; making sure the press is aware of this is critical to improving her image.
Top Democrats, allies are concerned over Kamala Harris' image
The goal of the dinner was to quickly devise a strategy to defend Vice President Kamala Harris and her chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, from allegations of a hostile workplace, NY Post reported. It was intended to examine how Harris might improve her national media profile by drawing on her prosecutor, California attorney general, and senator expertise to counter criticism.
Kiki McLean, a Democratic communications expert and former aide to Bill and Hillary Clinton, planned the event. Jennifer Palmieri, former Obama White House communications director, Minyon Moore, Biden advisor Stephanie Cutter, and Hillary Clinton campaign spokeswomen Karen Finney and Adrienne Elrod were attendees.
A source told Axios that the women believed her press coverage had "sexist overtones" that reminded them of Hillary Clinton's disastrous 2016 campaign.
Harris has struggled to maintain the positive coverage she received as a vice presidential candidate, from her poorly received the management of the southern border crisis to her awkward interview moments to her office's reported clashes with the West Wing. And stories about low morale and toxic work culture in her office.
If Biden does not run, Kamala Harris will be the presumptive nominee. According to administration insiders, deposing the first Black woman vice president would be almost difficult. Many Democrats, including some current government officials, are afraid that she will be unable to defeat whatever the Republican Party nominates, even if it is Donald Trump.
The meal occurred while Harris is under fire for her handling of the illegal immigration problem and allegations that she created a hostile and dysfunctional workplace.
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Vice president's "toxic office"
Much of the conversation among the media behemoths was focused on highlighting Harris' expertise as California attorney general and subsequently as a US senator. According to Department of Homeland Security data, the dinner was timed to coincide with a wave of negative news about her failing as Border Czar as tens of thousands of migrants, many of them children, arrived in the United States.
Harris flew to the southern border at the end of June, just as former President Donald Trump announced his visit to McAllen, Texas. She explained the fundamental causes of why so many people forsake their homeland and go north after she arrived.
She also placed the finger of blame on former President Donald Trump for the escalating situation at the US-Mexico border. The dinner story coincided with a report that interviewed 22 current and former vice presidential staffers, administration officials, and allies of both Harris and Biden and characterized the office as "abusive" and "treated unfairly."
The Sun reported staffers who worked with the Democrat before she became Joe Biden's vice president said she was notorious for abruptly stopping phone calls. Others were criticized and subjected to verbal abuse about why she wasn't prepared and how she insisted on having a particular pen. The news of the crisis dinner comes as Anthony Bernal, one of First Lady Jill Biden's top aides, is accused of "berating" other workers, prompting comparisons to Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada and Game of Thrones' or Littlefinger.
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